Jp jra 5r spa 



©S III 1A8I®^« 

A Panoramic View of the Seat of War around Sebastopol, includJng^anubian Provinces, Turkey, Asia Minor, ^\ m Russ i a and the Crimea, froma Surveyj ^order of Louis Napoleon, Emperor ofFrance. 




1. Bukowina. 

2. Sereth. 

3. River Sereth, 
4. Transylvania — 

Austria. 

ronstadt — a frontier ■ 

Austria. 

6. Part of the Carpathian range of 

Mountains. 

7. Moldavia. 

8. Botuchany. 

lo! ChSatk 
11. Brailow. 



12. Bucharest — thotnpital f *\y a \_ 

lachia. 

13. Wallachia. 

14. Oltenitza. 
16. Giurgevo. 

16. Bessarabia — prcni uce f Turkev 

taken by the flgsians. 

17. Bender — the capu of Bessarabia. 
19. Kilia. J). Keeeial 



23'. The River Pruft _ tho pre3ent 
boundary oftt fassian Empire. 



, The River Dn: 

. The River Danube — the northern 

boundary of the Turkish Empire. 
. Part of the Turkish province of 

Bulgaria. 
. Schnmla. 
. Rustchuk. 
. Silistiia. 

. Matchin. 



, Baltschik. 

. A range of rugged Mountains, 



3fi. Burgas. 

3b Constantinople 

42. ThcDudMeU™"™- 

43. G.ilhp'ili, 

44. Sult»»fch,th S Tro M ofth e New 

i* "Wineiit. 

45. Bune! 



-' "i Hi 



supposed to be the 



51. Boh\ 
. Siuope — where a great portion of 
the Turkish fleet was surprised 
by the Russians, and destroyed. 
. Trebizond, a commercial town of 
Turkey. The country around 
Siuope and Trebizond was for- 
merly a Roman provin " " 
Paphla; 



. the New Testa- 



Armenia.^ w Ptel of Turkish 
59. Bajazid. 
00. Mount Ara^ 

61. Erivan. 

62. Kars. 

63. Gurari. 

63A. ThePlain Sof . „ 

Plains offt; ^Mat, called the 

64. Tims, the ^m the Bible 

vaai of Georgia. In 



headq' 

65. Gori. 

66. Stavropol, the capital of Caucas 

the countrv inhnhif^ i — t 



67. a 



~..„ FU1 , tuc capital ot UaucaMa, 
the country inhabited by the 
Calmuc Tartars, 
aicasus Mountains, extending 
from the Sea of Azof to the 
Caspian Sea. 
. The flat country of the Don Cos- 
sacks, between Stavropol and 
Tchcrkark. 



68. New Tchcrkark, the »?' 

Don Cossacks. 

69. The River Dou. ., 

70. Rostov. 

72. Sea of Azof. „ tt B< 

73. The Steppes of Sou" 

74. Odessa, on the soul" 

the Black Sea. 
7.5. Nicolaief. . _ Wc h (WJ 

76. The Village in »ni» J^i 

philanthropist, 
and was buned. 

77. Kherson, 

78. Berislav. 



84. Bunat.... 

85. Old Tort. 
88. Balaclava. 
87. Alushta. 
00 Caffa. 

Gulf of Caffa. 



ma the principal fortress of tho 



the norllic.i I <)'"« 
'the'Black Sea. The succes- 
of fortresses below Anapa 



Published by HIGGTTJS & BRADLEY, 20 Wnsta^ ^^ Bostoni 



THE 



POWERS OF EUROPE 



AND 



FALL OF SEBASTOPOL. 



BY A BRITISH OFFICER. 



ILLUSTRATED FROM SUPERIOR PHOTOGRAPHS. 



BOSTON : 

HIGGINS AND BRADLEY, 

20 Washington Street. 

1856. 



Tfe 




Entered according to Act of Oongrees, In the year 1866, by 

HIGGINS & BRADLEY, 

In the Olerk'a Office of the District Court of the United States, for die 

Southern District of New York. 






PREFACE. 



This work makes no pretensions to absolute originality 
being partially a compilation, with incidents in the life of the 
Author, who was an actor in many of the scenes narrated. He 
has striven to be judicious in selecting, from the most authentic 
sources, only that which would be interesting, at this crisis, to 
the general reader. 

Some extracts are given entire; in other cases, long pas- 
sages have been abridged and condensed. 

Information from a vast variety of sources has, in many 
instances, been put together, and presented in a new and more 
graphic form. 

Minute details, as far as practicable, have been avoided ; 
whilst the whole ground has been, more or less, completely 
surveyed. The Author has sought to make a popular vol- 
ume, which might be read with pleasure, and be permanently 
serviceable as a book of reference. 

The bloody sieges of Saragossa, Gerona, and Badajos, have 
been referred to more in detail to afford the opportunity of 
comparison with that of Sebastopol ; while the battles of Auster- 
litz and Waterloo have been described for comparison with 
those of Alma and Inkermann. The origin and progress of 
the present war are detailed. The biographies of the princi- 
pal characters now engaged in the East will be found enter- 
taining ; and the Author confidently hopes it may prove a 
volume of interest and permanent value. 

H.F. G. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER L • 

Summary survey of Europe — Aristocracy of France — France previous tc 
the Revolution — Revolutionary Symptoms — The Great Powers, 1792-6 
— William Pitt — Execution of Louis XVI. — The Allies against France — 
Siege of Toulon — Invasion of Holland — Napoleon — His early youth — 
Thirteenth Vendemiaire — The Campaign in Italy — Rapid victories oi 
Bonaparte — Expedition to Egypt — Return of Bonaparte — First Consu 
late — The passage of the Alps — Second Campaign in Italy — Napoleon 
Emperor — War with England — Alliance between the Great Powers, 
1805 — Indecision of Prussia — Alexander visits the tomb of Frederick the 
Great — Battle of Austerlitz — Treaty of Tilsit — Secret understanding 
respecting Turkey — British orders in Council — Battle of Wagram — ■ 
Annexation of Finland — Campaign of Moscow — The Grand Alliance, 
1813 — Battle of Leipsic — Allies enter Paris. 

CHAPTER II. 

Origin of the War in the Peninsula. — Siege of Saragossa. — Murderous 
Character of the War. — Success of the French in Portugal. — Battle of 
Rolica. — Battle of Vimiero. — Convention of Cintra. — The French 
evacuate Portugal. — Preparations of Napoleon for another Campaign. 
— He subdues the Country, and enters Madrid. — Address to the Span- 
ish People. — Napoleon recalled by the War with Austria. — Soult and 
Ney intnisted with the Command of the French Army in Spain. — 
Retreat of Sir John Moore. — Battle of Corunna. — Death of Sir John 
Moore. — The British Army sail for England, 50 

CHAPTER III. 

Joseph Bonaparte again King of Spain. — Hi3 Difficulties with Soult. — 
Second Siege of Saragossa. — Another English Army, under Sir Arthur 
Wellesley, lands at Lisbon. — Battle of Ta^avera. — The English retire 
into Portugal. — Siege of Gerona. — Principal Events of the Campaign 
of 1810. — The English Troops make a Stand at Torres Vedras. — 
Retreat of Massena. — Siege of Cadiz. — Escape of French Prisoners. — 
Opening of the Campaign of 1811, 99 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Author, with his Regiment, leaves Gibraltar, for Tarifa. — Dissensions 
between the Spanish and English Officers. — Battle of Barossa. — Retreat 
of the French. — Suffering of the Pursuing Army. — Guerillas. — Don 
Julian Sanchez. — Juan Martin Diaz. — Xavier Mina. — Continued Pri- 
vations of the British Army. — Adventures of the Author in Search of 
Food. — Arrival of the Commissariat with Provisions. — Extravagant 
Joy of the Troops. — Departure of the British Army for Badajos, . 123 

CHAPTER V. 

Badajos. — Its Capture by the French. — Attempts to retake it by the 
English. — "Wellington invests it in Person. — Assault upon Fort Chris- 
toval. — Storming of the Town. — Terrific Conflict. — The place sacked 
by the Victors. — Disgraceful Drunkenness and Debauchery of the 
Troops. — The Main Body of the Army depart for Beira, .... 160 

CHAPTER VI. 

Brief Summary of Events for Four Tears preceding the Battle of Waterloo. 
— Author's Narrative resumed at that Period. — Preparation of Troops 
for the Battle. — Skirmishing preceding its Commencement. — Recep- 
tion of the News at Brussels. — Departure of the English for the Field 
of Battle. — Disposition of the Forces. — Attack upon Hougomont. — 
Progress of the Battle. — Arrival of the Prussian Reinforcements. — 
Charge of the Old Guard. — Flight of the French 217 



CHAPTER VII. 

TURKEY AND RUSSIA. 

Origin of the Ottoman Empire — Siege and Capture of Constantinople by 
the Turks— Mahomet — The Sultans — Abdul Medjid—Kis, popularity and 
power — The Koran. 

The Russian Empire — Area and population — Social organization — Reli- 
gious policy — Nobility — Serfs — Conscription — The Army — Progress cf 
Russia and extension of her frontiers — Nicholas — Poland . . . 221 

CHAPTER VIII. 

HISTORY OF THE WAR. 

Arrival of Menschikoff at Constantinople — Demands of the Czar — The 
Sultan — Occupation of Moldavia and Wallaehia — Conference of Vienna — r 
Protest of the Porte — Turkish forces — Commencement of hostilities . 258 

CHAPTER IX. 

OMER PACHA. 

Anecdote — His Birth — Reforms — Sultan Mahmud — Enlistment in the 
Turkish army — His application — Expeditions among the wild tribes — 
Appointed Generalissimo — Present high position — Domestic life — Marriage 
— Personal habits — Kossuth and Hungarian refugees — War on the Danube 
—Battle of Oltenitza 268 

CHAPTER X. 

SCHAMYL, THE PROPHET-WARRIOR OF THE CAUCASUS. 

Caucasus — Character of the tribes — Circassian slave trade — Birth of 
Schamyl — Personal appearance — Form of government — His army and 
body-guard — Financial rule — Struggles with Russia — Personal habits — 
Legend — Circassian women in battle — Escape from the Russians . 283 

CHAPTER XI. 



Town of Sinope — Osman Pacha — The Mussulmans — The Black Sea 
squadron — Exploit of Captain Drummond — Sebastopol harbor — Achmet 
Pacha — Citate — The Battle — Turkey, as a military power — Christian 
population — War in Asia — England and France — Declaration of War — 
Embarkation of Troops , . . 298 



CHAPTER XII. 

TREATY OF ALLIANCE. 

The Five Articles of the Treaty — "War on the Danube— General Luders 
— The Pestilence — Decree of the Czar — Governor of Moscow— Loss of the 
frigate Tiger — Captain Gifford — Black Sea fleet — Duke of Cambridge—, 
Arrival at Varna — Captain Hall — Admiral Plumridge — General Bodisc< 
— Silistria — The Siege— Mussa Pacha — Evacuation of the Principalities bj 
the Russians 309 

CHAPTER XIII. 

CRIMEAN EXPEDITION. 

The Crimea — The Fleet — Appearance in the Bay of Baltjik — Sail from 
Varna — Land atEupatoria — March inland — Battle of Alma — Lord Raglan 
— Appearance of the Troops — Distance from Sebastapol — The morning of 
battle — Advance to the river Alma — Russian Position — The Zouaves — 
Storming the heights — March to Sebastopol — Death of Marshal St. Arnaud 
— General Canrobert 323 

CHAPTER XIV. 

SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. 

Bay of Balaklava — Landing of the Siege guns — Russian guns — Sebas- 
topol — Its appearance — Military harbor — Fortifications — Vessels of war— 
The country around Sebastopol — Allies opening trenches — Message of the 
governor to Lord Raglan — Bombardment — Lancaster guns — Explosion in 
the French batteries — Russian powder magazine explodes — The Allied Fleet 
— The Cannonade — Riflemen — Battle of Balaklava — British and French 
Position — The Combat — The Turks — The Highlanders — The Russian 
Cavalry — Captain Nolan — Lord Cardigan 344 

CHAPTER XV. 

SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. 

Lord Raglan — His life — Battle of Inkerman — Morning of battle — Sons 
of Emperor Nicholas — The attack — Troops engaged — Fierce encounters — 
Sir George Cathcart — His death — Russian cruelty — French infantry — The 
Zouaves — Chasseurs — Russians retire — Renewed attack — Repulsed b} 7 the 
French — Defeat — Sorties — Night after battle — Treaty with Austria of 2d 
' jj) ec . — Negotiations for peace — The four points — Landing of Omer Pacha 

at Eupatoria — Death of the Emperor Nicholas — Alaxander II Fall of 

Sebastopol. . . . ; • 372 

CHAPTER XVI. 

SIEGE OP SEBASTOPOL. 

Siege of Sebastopol continues — Sardinia joins the Western Alliance — 
Battle of Eupatoria — Sudden death of Emperor Nicholas — His love and 
pride for his Army — His last "Words — Alexander II. ascends the Throne 
— His 1vTa.-mfp.fitr> to his Subjects — A Sketch of him — Recall of Prince 
Menschikoff from command in the Crimea — His abilities and failings — 
His Successors — Gortschakoff's Military Career 175 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

Summary survey of Europe — Aristocracy of France — France previous to 
the Revolution — Revolutionary Symptoms — The Great Powers, 1792-6 
— "William Pitt — Execution of Louis XVI. — The Allies against France — 
Siege of Toulon — Invasion of Holland — Xapoleon — His earl}- youth — 
Thirteenth YenJemiaire — The Campaign in Italy — Rapid victories of 
Bonaparte — Expedition to Egypt — Return of Bonaparte — First Consu- 
late — The passage of the Alps — Second Campaign in Italy — Xapoh on 
Emperor — War with England — Alliance between the Great Powers, 
1S05 — Indecision of Prussia — Alexander visits the tomb of Frederick the 
Great — Battle of Austerlitz — Treaty of Tilsit — Secret understanding 
respecting Turkey — British orders in Council — Battle of Wagram — 
Annexation of Finland — Campaign of Moscow — The Grand Alliance, 
1813 — Battle of Leipsic — Allies enter Paris. 

"The fate of the East depends upon yon petty town," 
was the exclamation of Bonaparte to Murat, as he pointed 
towards Acre, which even his military genius was unable 
to subdue. Repeated and desperate assaults proved that 
the consequence which he attached to the taking of it was 
as great as the words expressed. The imagination reverts 
from the position of the army of Egypt before that ori- 
ental city, arid rapidly traversing the events of succeeding 
history, runs down to the position of the army of the suc- 
cessor of Bonaparte, and of his English and Turkish allies, 
who, on nearly the precise parallel of longitude, are uni- 
tedly engaged in besieging one of the first strongholds of 
Europe. 
In recounting some of the great events of the times 

1 



2 EUROPE AJSTD TEE ALLIES. 

which have filled the world with their grandeur, and 
whose present and future place in history overshadows the 
preceding ages, a rapid resume, of the situation of Europe, 
just previous to and at the commencement of the great 
drama, may be useful, and serve to recall facts and events 
which may to the general reader have been known but 
forgotten. 

One who stands amid the gardens and grounds of Ver- 
sailles, and contemplates the enormous luxury and expend- 
iture of its builder, while he recalls his vast wars, his 
policy, and his intrigues, can better understand the decla- 
ration of Louis XIY. to his assembled parliament. " The 
State ! I am the State!" And such an observer can also 
discover the truth of that statement, that it was that buil- 
der who laid the foundations of the French Revolution 
with the stones of Versailles. The keen sagacity of the 
polite Chesterfield could detect that approaching revolu- 
tion a quarter of a century before it took place ; and his 
remarkable prediction shows how rapidly the signs of the 
gathering storm must have accumulated in the years suc- 
ceeding the Augustan age of France. The energies of the 
nation had been devoted to the service and pleasure 
of the monarch ; they now began to be directed to their 
proper end, the examination of their own interests. From 
the theatre and the pulpit the genius of the French 
people hurried precipitately into morals and politics, a 
sudden revolution took place in the minds of all, and the 
conflict it produced lasted during a whole century. 

The exclusive privileges of the aristocracy, who mono- 
polised every official position, and who alone were eligible 
to rank in the army, choked the developement of the great 



CONDITION OF FRANCE, 1787-8. 3 

body of the people ; and while they consumed the reve- 
nues of the State they were in a great measure exempt 
from taxation. Cradled in the luxury of courts, the aris- 
tocracy were sunk in vice and effeminacy. And they 
looked upon the great body of the people as only a neces- 
sary appendage to a government in which they had neither 
right nor control. 

In the most martial nation of Europe the private soldier 
could not, by the greatest daring or genius, elevate him- 
self, because only the aristocracy could obtain rank. The 
effects of the opposite system were afterwards seen with 
Napoleon, who boasted that he conquered Europe with the 
bivouac ; with generals raised from the ranks. 

The oppressions of the feudal tenure in France exceeded 
belief ; the people were even obliged to grind corn at the 
landlord's mill, press their grapes at his press, and bake 
their bread at his oven on his own terms. 

The fermentation which had long been going on in the 
public mind; "the revolt against* eighteen centuries of 
oppression" began to develop itself rapidly. Yet the 
monopolizers of all the national rights continued to dispute 
for a worn out authority. The court, careless and tranquil 
in the midst of the struggle, were wasting the property of 
the people while surrounded by the most frightful disor- 
ders. When it was told to the effeminate and dissolute 
Louis XY. that the nation could not suffer much longer, 
he characteristically said, "Nevermind, if it last my time 
it is sufficient for me !" Such was the eighteenth cen- 
tury. 

It was during the years 1787 and '88, that the French 
nation first conceived the idea of passing from theory to 



EUROPE AXD THE ALLIES. 



practice. The weak and vacillating Louis XVI., the least 
fitted of all men to guide the destinies of a nation in the 
throes of political convulsion, had successively tried 
ministry after ministry, and one expedient after the other ; 
yet the ship of state was swiftly approaching the vortex 
of the whirlpool in which it had entered. 

" Upon what trivial events often depend the most im- 
portant affairs. The mistake of a captain, who bore away 
instead of forcing his passage to the place of his destina- 
tion, has prevented the face of the world from being 
totally changed," said Napoleon. " Acre," continued he, 
" would otherwise have fallen : I would have flown to Da- 
mascus and Aleppo ; and in the twinkling of an eye, 
would have been at the Euphrates. I would have reached 
Constantinople and the Indies, and would have changed 
the face of the world." It was thus in the assembly of 
the Notables, called by the intelligent, brilliant, and care- 
less Calonne, then minister of state, that a member, com- 
plaining of the prodigality of the court, demanded a 
statement of the expenses. Another member, punning 
on the word, exclaimed, " It is not statements, but States 
General that we want." This single random expression 
struck every one with astonishment, and seized by the 
people was immediately acted upon ; the States General 
were called, and the public mind was filled with the wild- 
est fermentation : France and Europe were to be immedi- 
ately regenerated ; visionary schemes without number were 
formed ; and that general unhinging of opinions took place, 
which is the surest prelude of revolution. That revolu 
tion now came, and in its tumults and convulsions the An- 
cient French Monarchy rapidly approached its extinction. 



DECLAEATION OF WAB, 1788-92. 5 

Amid frightful disorders, famine appeared ; the elements 
seemed to partake of the savagery of the times ; and the 
severity of the tempests of summer which destroyed the 
harvests, was succeeded by a winter, 1TSS-9, of unparal- 
leled rigor. Soon began that vast emigration of the nobili- 
ty, which was afterwards succeeded by the attempted 
flight of the king ; while all authority but that of the Sans 
Culottes seemed abolished. Foreign affairs became daily 
more menacing ; the young Emperor, Francis II. of Aus- 
tria, was gathering his armies, and soon demanded the re- 
establishment of the monarchy on its ancient footing. 
All classes in France now anxiously desired war; the 
aristocracy hoped to regain their lost privileges with the 
assistance of Germany ; the democracy hoped, amid the 
tumult of victorious campaigns, to establish their princi- 
ples. 

At length, on the 20th of April, 1792, oppressed with 
the solemnity and grandeur of the occasion, the declara- 
tion of war against Austria was received by the National 
Assembly of France in solemn silence. Thus commenced 
the greatest, the most bloody, and the most interesting 
war which has agitated mankind since the fall of the 
Roman Empire. Eising from feeble beginnings, it at 
length involved the world in its conflagration; rousing 
the passions of every class, it brought unheard of armies 
into the field ; and it was carried on with a degree of ex- 
asperation unknown in modern times. " A revolution in 
France," says Xapoleon, " is always followed, sooner or 
later, by a revolution in Europe." Situated in the centre 
of modern civilization, it has in every age communicated 
the impulse of its own changes to the adjoining states 



D EUROPE AKT> THE ALLIES. 

Thus, the great changes which had taken place in France 
had excited all Europe, and spread the utmost alarm in 
all her monarchies. 

Austria, Russia, Prussia, and England were at that 
period, as now, the great powers of Em-ope, and they were 
the principal actors in the desperate struggle which ensued. 
They were in a situation capable of great exertion ; years 
of repose had fitted them, to enter upon a gigantic war. 
England, although she had lost one empire in the west, 
had gained another in the east ; and the wealth of India 
began to pour into her bosom. The public funds had 
risen from 57, at the close of the American War, to 99. 
Her army consisted of 32,000 men in the British Isles, be 
sides an equal force in the East and West Indies ; but these 
forces were rapidly augmented after the commencement 
of the war, and before 1796, the regular force amounted 
to 206,000 men, including 42,000 militia. Yet experience 
proves that Britain could never collect above 40,000 men 
upon any one point of the continent of Europe. But her 
real strength consisted in her great wealth, in the pub- 
lic spirit and energy of her people, and in a fleet of 150 
ships of the line, which commanded the seas. 

England, like other monarchies, had slumbered on con- 
tented and prosperous, and for the most part inglorious, 
during the eighteenth century. A great writer ob- 
served, that while America was doubling her population 
every twenty-five years, Europe was lumbering on with 
an increase, which would hardly arrive at the same result 
in five hundred ; and Gibbon lamented that the age of 
interesting incidents was past, and that the modern histo- 
rian would never again have to record the moving events, 



AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, 1792. 7 

and dismal catastrophes of ancient story. Such were the 
anticipations of the greatest men on the verge of a period 
that was to usher in a new Caesar, and to be illustrated 
by an Austerlitz and a Trafalgar, a "Wellington and a 
Waterloo ; and the human race, mowed down by unpa- 
ralleled wars, was to spring up again with an elasticity 
before unknown. William Pitt was the great Prime 
Minister of England at this time, and modern history can- 
not exhibit a statesman more fertile in resources, and whose 
expedients seemed as exhaustless as his great abilities. 
Fox and Burke, each distinguished by a high order of in- 
tellect, filled the British Parliament with their reasoning 
and eloquence. 

The great Austrian empire contained at that time near- 
ly 25,000,000 of inhabitants, with a revenue of 95,000,000 
florins, and numbered the richest and most fertile districts 
of Europe among its provinces. The wealth of Flanders, 
the riches of Lombardy, and the valor of the Hungarians 
added to the strength of the Empire. Her armies had 
acquired immortal renown in the wars of Maria Theresa. 
At the commencement of the war, her force amounted to 
240,000 infantry, 35,000 cavalry, and 100,000 artillery. 
Her court, the most aristocratic in Europe, was strongly 
attached to old institutions, and the marriage of Maria 
Antoinette to Louis XYI. gave the Austrian court a family 
interest in the affairs which preceded and followed the 
French Revolution. 

The military strength of Prussia, raised to the highest 
pitch by the genius of Frederic the Great, had rendered 
her one of the first powers of Europe ; her army of 165,- 
000 strong was in the highest state of discipline and equip- 



8 EUBOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

ment, and by a system of organization the whole youth 
of the kingdom were compelled to serve a limited number 
of years in the army, so that she had within herself an in- 
exhaustible reserve of men trained to arms. Her cavalry 
was the finest in Europe. 

The majesty and power of Russia was beginning to fill 
the north with its greatness, and in her struggles and bat- 
tles from the time of Peter the Great, through her wars 
with Sweden, with Frederic and with the Turks, she had 
constantly advanced with gigantic strides towards the 
Orient and the West. Her immense dominions compre- 
hended nearly the half of Europe and Asia ; while she 
was secure from invasion by her position, and by the 
severity of her climate. The Empress Catharine, endowed 
with masculine energy and ambition, had waged a bloody 
war with Turkey, in which the zeal of a religious crusade 
was directed by motives of policy and desire for the 
acquisition of new territory which should pave the way 
for that future expected conquest of the whole of Euro- 
pean Turkey, and which should give Russia the shores ot 
the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmora as her southern 
boundary, and should make Constantinople, the seat of her 
commerce and her power over the Mediterranean and 
the East, the centre through which she might command 
the world. The infantry of Russia has long been celebra- 
ted for its invincible firmness, and the cavalry, though 
greatly inferior to its present state of discipline and 
equipment, was formidable. The artillery, now so splen- 
did, was then only remarkable for its cumbrous carriages 
and the obstinate valor of its men. Inured to hardship 
from infancy, the Russian soldier is better able to bear 



MILITARY STRENGTH OF RUSSIA, 1788-92. D 

the fatigues of war than any in Europe ; he knows no 
duty so sacred as obedience to his officers. Submissive to 
his discipline as to his religion, no privation or fatigue 
makes him forget his obligations. The whole of the 
energies of the Empire are turned to the army. Com- 
merce, the law, and civil employment are held in no 
esteem. Immense military schools, in different parts of 
the Empire, annually send forth the flower of the popula- 
tion to this dazzling career. Precedence depends entirely 
upon military rank, and the heirs of the greatest families 
are compelled to enter the army at the lowest grade. 
Promotion is open equally to all, and the greater part of 
the officers have risen from inferior stations of society. 

The military strength of France, which was destined to 
oppose and triumph over these immense forces, consisted 
at the commencement of the struggle of 165,000 infantry, 
35,000, cavalry and 10,000 artillery. But her troops had 
relaxed their discipline during the revolution, and her sol- 
diers had been so accustomed to political discussion, that it 
had introduced a license unfavorable to discipline. At first 
they lacked steadiness and organization, but these defects 
were speedily remedied by the pressure of necessity, and 
by the talent which emerged from the lower classes of 
society. 

Such was the state of the principal European powers at 
the commencement of the war. The celebrated 10th of 
August, 1792, came, and the throne was overturned, the 
royal family put in captivity, while the massacres of Sep- 
tember drenched Paris with blood. The victories of 
Dumourier rolled back the tide off oreign invasion to the 
"Rhine. War was declared against Sardinia, 15th Sep- 

1* 



10 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

tember, and Savoj and Nice were seized and united to 
the Frencli Republic. 

"The die is thrown, we have rushed into the career; 
all governments are our enemies, all people are our 
friends ; we must be destroyed or they shall be free," 
exclaimed the orator of the convention. Geneva surren- 
dered to the French without a blow, and > the Convention 
declared it would grant its assistance to all people who 
wished to recover their liberty. Flanders was overrun 
by the French in a fortnight, and they committed an 
aggression on the Dutch by opening the Scheldt, and by 
pursuing the fugitive Austrians into Dutch territorv. 

While the tide of Austrian and Prussian invasion was 
rolled back to the Rhine, the great frontier city of Ger- 
many was wrested from Austria almost under the eyes of' 
the imperial armies; and although the campaign com- 
menced only in August, under the greatest apparent dis- 
advantage to the French, yet before the close of Decem- 
ber all this had been accomplished. The execution of 
Louis XYI. on the 21st Jan., 1793, completed the destruc- 
tion of the French monarchy, accelerated the Reign of 
Terror, and brought the accession of England to the 
league of the Allied Sovereigns y Chauvelin, the French 
Ambassador, received orders immediately to quit London ; 
and this was succeeded in a few days by a declaration of 
war, l"3t February, 1793, by France against England, 
Spain, and Holland. The audacity of the Convention, 
which thus threw down the gauntlet to nearly all of 
Europe, excited universal astonishment. The feeling of 
national honor, in all ages so powerful among the French, 
was awakened to its highest pitch. Every species of 



CONGRESS OF THE ALLIES, 1793. 11 

requisition was cheerfully furnished under the pressure of 
impending calamity ; and in the dread of foreign subju- 
gation the loss of fortune and employment was forgotten 
only one path, that of honor, was open to the brave. The 
Jacobins, the ruling power in France, were no longer 
despised but feared by the European powers, and terror 
prompts more vigorous efforts than contempt. Ko sooner 
did the news of the execution of Louis reach St. Peters- 
burg than the Empress Catharine took the most decisive 
measures, and all Frenchmen who did not renounce the 
principles of the revolution were ordered to quit her 
territory; the most intimate relations were established 
between the courts of London and St. Petersburg ; and a 
treaty between them, which laid the basis of the Grand 
Alliance, was signed, 25th March, in which they engaged 
to carry on the war against France, and not to lay down 
their arms without restitution of all the conquests which 
France had made from either of them, or such states and 
allies to whom the benefit of the treaty should extend. 
Treaties of the same nature were made w T ith Sardinia and 
Portugal, and thus all Europe was arrayed against France. 
A congress of the allies assembled at Antwerp, which 
came to the resolution of totally altering the objects of the 
war; and it was openly announced there that the object 
was to provide indemnities and securities for the allied 
powers by partitioning the frontier territories of France 
among the invading states. Soon after, when Valen- 
ciennes and Conde were taken, the Austrian flag, and not 
that of the Allies, was hoisted on the walls. The Prussians 
and Austrians, numbering 100,000, were on the Rhine 
early in the spring, and the King of Prussia crossed in 



12 EUBOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

great force. The French, army, inferior in numbers and 
discipline, retreated. Mentz capitulated to the Allies aftei 
a long and dreadful siege, and the French continued tc 
retreat in disorder. But the Allies wasted their splendid 
opportunity. The French retreated to their entrenched 
camp before Arras, after which there was no place capa- 
ble of defence on the road to Paris. The Republican 
authorities took to flight, the utmost consternation pre- 
vailed, and a rapid advance of the Allies would have 
changed the history of Europe. But from this time dis- 
sension began among them; and from this period may 
be dated a series of disasters to them, which went on con- 
stantly increasing until the French arms were planted on 
the Kremlin, and all Europe, from Gibraltar to the North 
Cape: had yielded to their arms. 

The mighty genius of Carnot, who, in the energetic lan- 
guage of Napoleon, " organized victory" soon appeared at 
the head of the military department of France. Austere 
in character, unbending in discipline, and of indefatigable 
energy, he resembled the great patriots of antiquity more 
that any other statesman of modern times, and in the midst 
of peril and disaster he infused his unparalleled vigor into 
his department, and France became one vast workshop of 
arms, resounding with the note of military preparation. 
The roads were covered with conscripts hastening to their 
destination ; and fourteen armies, and 1,200,000 men, were 
soon under arms. The siege of Dunkirk, undertaken by 
the English, was raised, and the Austrian and Prussian 
armies were driven back to the Rhine. 

The siege of Toulon, whose inhabitants had revolted 
from the horrors of the Reign of Terror, was remarkable 



REPUBLICAN ARMIES OF FRANCE, 1794. 13 

for the horrible carnage with which it was accompanied, 
as well as for the appearance of a young officer of artillery, 
then chief of battalion, Napoleon Bonaparte. Its capture, 
which was owing to his genius, was accompanied by the 
destruction of nearly the whole French fleet in its harbor 
by the retreating English. At eight in the evening a fire- 
ship was towed into the harbor ; soon the flames arose 
in every quarter, and fifteen ships of the line and eight 
frigates were consumed. The volume of smoke which 
filled the sky, the flames which burst as it were out of the 
sea, the red light which illuminated the most distant moun- 
tains, and the awful explosions of the magazines formed, 
says Napoleon, "a grand and terrible spectacle." The 
arms of France, on the frontiers of Flanders and elsewhere, 
now began to be successful, while the dubious conduct or 
evident defection of Prussia paralysed all operations on 
the Rhine ; and before the close of 179-i the Republican 
armies, in a winter campaign, invaded Holland and sub- 
dued almost the whole of that rich country without a 
battle. Amsterdam, which had defied the whole powet 
of Louis XIV., was conquered ; these successes were fol 
lowed by others still more marvellous. On the same day 
on which General Dandels entered Amsterdam, the left 
wing of the army made themselves masters of Dordrecht, 
containing six hundred pieces of cannon, ten thousand 
muskets, and immense stores of ammunition. The same 
division passed through Rotterdam and took possession of 
the Hague, where the States General were assembled ; 
and to complete the wonders of the campaign, a body of 
cavalry and flying artillery crossed the Zuyder Zee on the 
ice, and summoned the fleet lying frozen up at the Texel j 



14 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

\ 

and the commander, confounded at the hardihood of the 
enterprise, surrendered his ships to this novel species of 
assailant ; and at the conclusion of the campaign, the Span- 
iards, defeated, were suing for peace. The Piedmontese 
were driven over the Alps ; the Allies had everywhere 
crossed the Rhine; Flanders and Holland were subju- 
gated ; La Vendee pacificated ; and the English fled for 
refuge to Hanover ; 1,700,000 men had combated under 
the banners of France ; and peace was concluded soon 
after between France, Spain, and Prussia. 

Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, 
on the 15th of August, 1769. Corsica is essentially 
Italian, and to this day a state of society prevails which 
differs from that' of any other part of Europe. The 
wildest and most deadly feuds are common among its 
principal families. The people are turbulent and excita- 
ble. Napoleon was too great a man to derive distinction 
from any adventitious advantages, and when the Emperor 
of Austria, after he became his son-in-law, endeavored to 
trace his connexion with the obscure Dukes of Treviso, 
he answered that he was the Rudolph of Hapsburg of his 
family, and that his patent of nobility dated from the bat- 
tle of Montenotte. His mother, a woman of no common 
beauty, being at the festival of the Assumption on the 
day of his birth, was seized with her pains during high 
mass. She was brought home and hastily laid upon a 
couch covered with tapestry representing the heroes of the 
Iliad, and there the future conqueror was brought into 
the world. The winter residence of his father was usually 
at Ajaccio; but in summer the family retired to a villa 
near the isle of Sanguinere, once the residence of a rela- 



YOUTH OF NAPOLEON, 1783-5- lo 

tion of Ills mother's, situated on a romantic spot near the 
sea shore. The house is approached by an avenue over- 
hung- by the cactus, acacia, and other shrubs, which grow 
luxuriantly in a southern climate. It has a garden and 
lawn showing vestiges of neglected beauty, and sur- 
rounded by a shrubbery permitted to run to a wilderness. 
There, enclosed by the cactus, the clematis, and the wild 
olive, is a singular and isolated granite rock, beneath 
which the remains of a small summer-house are still visi- 
ble. This was the favorite retreat of young Napoleon, 
who early showed a love of solitary meditation, during 
the period when his school vacations permitted him to 
return home. And it may be supposed, perhaps, that 
here the magnificence of his oriental imagination formed 
those visions of ambition and high resolves, for which the 
limits of the world were, ere long, felt to be insufficient. 
At an early age he was sent to the military school at 
Brienne ; his character there underwent a rapid alteration ; 
he became thoughtful, studious, and diligent in the 
extreme. 

On one occasion, while the youths were playing the 
death of Cresar in their theatre, the wife of the porter, 
well known to the boys, presented herself at the door, and 
being refused admittance made some disturbance ; the 
matter was referred to the young Xapoleon, who was the 
officer in command on the occasion. " Remove that wo- 
man who brings here the license of camps !" said the future 
ruler of the revolution. At the age of fourteen he was sent 
to the military school at Paris, and at sixteen he received a 
commission in a regiment of artillery. "When the revolu- 
tion broke out he adhered to the popular side. After the 



16 EUROPE AND THE ALLD3S. 

siege of Toulon, Dugommier, the general in command, 
wrote to the Convention, " Kewarcl and promote that young 
man, for if you are ungrateful to him he will raise himself 
alone." He commanded the artillery in 1791 during the 
campaign in Italy. Dumbion, in command, of the army, 
who was old, submitted the direction of affairs principally 
to Bonaparte. His intimacy with the younger Robes- 
pierre, and his refusal of a command in La Yendee in the 
civil insurrection, led to his being deprived of his rank as 
a general officer, and he was reduced to private life. But 
his talents being known led to his being called to the com- 
mand of the forces in Paris, which triumphed over the 
sections ; his decision saved, the Convention. The story of 
his introduction to and marriage of Josephine is too well 
known to need repetition. 

In 1796 Bonaparte took command of the forces destined 
to operate against Italy. "With an army destitute of almost 
every thing, he, in a short time, overran Piedmont, con- 
quered a peace with Sardinia, passed the Po and crossed 
the Adda at the Bridge of Lodi. The nervous eloquence 
of Napoleon, in his address to his soldiers, and the splen- 
dor of his success, intoxicated Paris with joy. The first 
day, they heard that the gates of the Alps were opened ; 
the next, that the Austrians were separated from the Pied- 
montese army : the third that the Piedmontese army was 
destroyed and the fortresses surrendered. The rapidity 
of this success, the number of prisoners, exceeded all that 
had yet been witnessed. Every one asked, who was this 
young conqueror whose fame had burst forth so suddenly, 
and whose proclamations breathed the spirit of ancient 
glory ? 



RAPID VICTORIES, 1796. 17 

" The 13th of Yendemiaire and the victory of Monte 
notte," said Napoleon, "did not induce me to think 
myself a superior character. It was after the passage of 
Lodi that the idea shot across my mind' that I might 
become a decisive actor on the political theatre ; then arose 
for the first time the spark of great ambition." 

With pomp and splendor Napoleon made his triumphal 
entry into Milan, to the sound of military music and the 
acclamations of an immense concourse of spectators. The 
rapidity of the French victories in Italy, and the destruc- 
tion of the Austrian armies, sent to oppose them, crowned 
Napoleon as the greatest chieftain of his time. The 
marshes of Areola, the heights of Montebello, and the 
plain of Rivoli witnessed his successive glories. But 
while the arms of Eepublican France were conquering in 
Italy, they suffered reverse and defeat under Moreau on 
the frontiers and the Khine ; and the Archduke Charles 
drove back the French legions who had dared to pene- 
trate Germany. At the close of the year the death of the 
great Empress, Catharine of Russia, and the accession of 
Paul to the throne, changed, in many important respects, 
the fate of the war. 

In the midst of threatened invasion from France, a 
general panic seized England, and while the public funds 
had fallen from 99 to 51, a run commenced on the Bank 
of England, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. This 
caused those orders in Council in February, 1797 — sus- 
pending specie payments, which, although only considered 
temporary at the time, continued a quarter of a century. 
The defeat of the Spanish fleet at St. Vincent, by Nelson and 
Collingwood, soon quelled the fear of invasion in England. 



18 EUE0PE AND THE ALLIES. 

The army of Napoleon in Italy opened the campaign 
of 1797 by attacking, early in March, the Archduke 
Charles before he had received his reinforcements. Na- 
poleon arrived -by rapid marches, with his army in front 
of the Austrians, who had chosen, on the line of the Julian 
Alps, the river Tagliamento on which to oppose the 
French. By a feint, Napoleon deceived the Austrians, 
crossed the river, charged them with fury, and drove them 
back with considerable loss. They retreated by the blue 
and glittering waters of the Isonza, and in twenty days 
the army of Charles was driven over the Julian Alps, 
and the French were within sixty leagues of Vienna ; 
pushing forward, they came within sight of its steeples. 
But unsupported, and with Italy in insurrection behind 
his back, Napoleon proposed peace to Austria. Delay 
after delay occurring in the negotiation, Napoleon de- 
clared if the ultimatum of the Directory was not accepted 
in twelve hours, he would commence hostilities. The 
time having expired, he entered the presence of the 
Austrian ambassador, and taking up a porcelain vase of 
great value, and which had been presented by the Empress 
Catharine to the ambassador, he declared energetically, 
"The die is cast, the truce is broken, war is declared. 
But mark my words, before the end of autumn I will 
break in pieces your monarchy, as I now destroy this 
porcelain ;" and with that he clashed it in pieces on the 
ground. Bowing, he retired, mounted his carriage, and 
despatched a courier to the Archduke, to- announce that 
hostilities would commence in twenty-four hours. The 
Austrian plenipotentiary, thunderstruck, forthwith agreed 
to the ultimatum, and the celebrated treaty of Campo 



NAPOLEON FIRST CONSUL, 1797. 19 

Formio "was signed the next day ; and thus terminated the 
Italian campaign of Napoleon, the most memorable in his 
military career. 

Returning to Paris, Napoleon was soon anxious to 
resume those schemes of ambition which continually 
occupied his mind. The expedition for the conquest of 
Egypt sailed with pomp from Toulon, and after occupying 
Malta, and narrowly escaping the English fleet under 
Nelson, the French army landed at Alexandria. Victory 
after victory soon completed the subjugation of the Land 
of the Pharaohs, while at the battle of the Nile the 
French fleet was almost entirely destroyed by Nelson. 

Cut off by this disaster from Europe, Napoleon pro- 
jected that expedition to Syria, which, unsuccessful at 
Acre, returned to Egypt in time to destroy the Turkish 
army, which had landed at Aboukir. Reverses in the 
Alps, the loss of Italy, the retreat of the French to Zurich, 
and the capture of Corfu by the Russians and English, 
determined Napoleon to return to France, which he 
accomplished in a small frigate, which escaped the English 
cruisers. Arrived in Paris, he found the government in 
disorder, and without a head, and, while disaster sur- 
rounded the country, its armies had been beaten, and its 
finances were in hopeless confusion. 

On the celebrated 18th Brumaire (Sth November), 
Napoleon having command of the troops in Paris, accom- 
plished that sudden revolution which placed him at the 
head of affairs. His schemes of ambition began now to 
ripen, and France soon felt in all her departments the 
energy of his mighty genius. One of his first acts was to 
propose peace with England. Disregarding the ordinary 



20 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

rules of negotiation, Napoleon addressed a letter person- 
ally to George III., proposing peace. This letter was 
replied to by Lord Grenville, tlie Prime Minister, who 
declined the proposition. 

Disappointed in his hopes of negotiating peace, Napo- 
leon prepared with renewed vigor for war. The cam- 
paign was the most important of his life. Its daring and 
success are almost unparalleled in history. 

Crossing the Alps, the highest chain of mountains in 
Europe, without roads, his artillery had to be dragged 
over narrow foot-paths, up the rugged sides of frown- 
ing mountains, and on the brink of awful precipices cov- 
ered with snow ; while provisions and stores for a whole 
army had to be carried by sheep-paths on the backs of 
men. Arrived at Geneva, having deceived the Austrians as 
to his intentions, he asked General Marescot, whom he 
had despatched to survey Mont St. Bernard, " Is the route 
practicable?" " It is barely possible," replied the engineer. 
" Let us press forward then," said Napoleon. Arrived at 
the little village of St. Pierre, everything resembling a 
road ended. An immense and apparently inaccessible 
mountain reared its head amidst general desolation and 
eternal frost, while precipices, glaciers, and ravines ap- 
peared to forbid access to all living things. Yet, sur- 
mounting every obstacle, the passage was accomplished ; 
and a French army of 30,000 men precipitated themselves, 
apparently from the clouds, on the plains of Italy, and 
appeared to the thunderstruck Austrians, cutting off their 
retreat from Genoa, and completely dividing their forces ; 
speedily marching upon Milan, leaving the Austrian army 
under Melas, behind him, he returned to attack them, 



NAPOLEON PROCLAIMED EMPEROR, 1804. 21 

and at the battle of Marengo gained the most important 
of his victories. By the close of 1S01 the continental 
states had all concluded peace with France, leaving her 
with the most enormous aggrandizements of territory. A 
short interval of peace occurred with England in 1802, 
which was broken by a declaration of war in June, 1803, 
and all the English residents between the ages of eighteen 
and sixt}' were detained as hostages. Hanover was seized 
by the French, and the English retaliated by blockading 
the Elbe and the Weser. 

The war with Great Britain, and a conspiracy to over 
throw the authority of the First Consul, which was disco- 
vered, served as a ladder for Xapoleon to mount from the 
Consulate to the Imperial Dignity ; and on the 3d May, 
1804, the senate communicated to Napoleon this address : 
" We think it of the last importance to the French people 
to confide the government of the Republic to Xapoleon 
Bonaparte — Hereditary Emperor." 

The Empire was proclaimed at St. Cloud, lSth May, 
1S01 ; and Xapoleon was crowned by Pope Pius TIL, 
on the 2d December, in the church of Notre Dame. War 
was declared by Spain against England, after she had un- 
warrantably attacked and seized four large Spanish frigates 
filled with cargoes of immense value. The rising hostility 
of Russia and Sweden at this moment incensed the French 
government still more against England, to whose influence 
she attributed their conduct. All appearances foretold 
the beginning of another general eruption. 

On the 11th of April, 1805, a treaty offensive and de- 
fensive was formed between Russia and England, the 
object of which was to put a stop to what they considered 



22 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

the encroachments of the French government, and to 
form a general league of the states of Europe. 

The accession of Austria was finally obtained to the 
alliance, after great difficulty and delay : the deplorable 
state of her finances, and the vacillating policy of her 
government, being (then as now) stumbling-blocks in the 
way of negotiation. On the 31st of August, Sweden was 
also included. But notwithstanding all the efforts oi 
England and Kussia, it was found impossible to overcome 
the scruples of Prussia, who inclined towards the French 
in hopes of obtaining Hanover, promised her by France 
as a reward for her neutrality. For ten years Prussia had 
flattered herself that by keeping aloof she would avoid 
the storm, that she would succeed in turning the desperate 
strife between France and Austria to her own benefit by 
enlarging her territory, and augmenting her consideration 
in the North of Germany ; but at once all her prospects 
vanished, and it became apparent, even to her own minis- 
ters, that this vacillating policy was ultimately to be as 
dangerous as it had already been discreditable. On the 
25th of Oct., the Emperor Alexander arrived at Berlin, 
and employed the whole weight of his great authority, 
and all the charms of his captivating manners, to induce 
the King to embrace a more manly and courageous poli- 
cy ; and on the 3rd of November a secret convention was 
signed between the two monarchs for the regulation of 
the affairs of Europe, and the erection of a barrier against 
the ambition of the French Emperor. The conclusion of 
the Convention was followed by a scene as remarkable as 
it was romantic. Inspired with a full sense of the dangers 
of the war, the ardent and chivalrous mind of the Queen 



TOMB OF FREDERICK THE GREAT, 1805. 23 

conceived the idea of uniting the two sovereigns by a 
bond more likely to be durable than the mere alliances 
of cabinets with each other. This was, to bring them 
together at the tomb of the great Frederick. The Empe- 
ror who was desirous of visiting the mausoleum of that 
illustrious hero, accordingly repaired to the church at 
Potsdam, where his remains are deposited. 

And at midnight the two monarchs proceeded togetner 
by torchlight to the hallowed grave. Uncovering when 
he approached the spot, the Emperor kissed the pall, and 
taking the hand of the King of Prussia, as it lay on the 
tomb, they swore an eternal friendship to each other, and 
bound themselves by the most solemn oaths to maintain 
their engagements inviolate in the great contest for 
European independence in which they were engaged. 

It would have been well for the Allies, if, when Prussia 
had thus taken her part, her cabinet had possessed suffi- 
cient resolution to have taken the held instead of continu- 
ing in her old habit of temporizing, and thus permitting 
Napoleon to continue without interruption his advance on 
Yienna. But her long indecision had been her ruin. 
Her territory had been violated by France, who, while 
apparently her ally, was reserving for her only the melan- 
choly privilege of being last destroyed. 

In the meantime, a combined force of English, Russians, 
and Swedes, thirty thousand strong, had been landed in 
Hanover, and the Prussian troops occupying that Electo- 
rate had offered no resistance — a sure proof to Napoleon 
of a secret understanding between the Cabinet of Berlin 
and that of London. 

While she was thus giving daily proofs of her indecision 



24 EUROPE AXD THE ALLIES. 

and treachery, the ever-vigilant Bonaparte was pouring 
his armies through Bavaria into Austria and concentrating 
his divisions for the sweeping victory which was so soon 
afterwards destined to scatter to the winds the opposing 
allies. 

We now come to the campaign of Austerlitz ; the 
most remarkable, in a military point of view? which the 
history of the war afforded. 

In the beginning of August the French army was 
cantoned on the heights of Boulogne ; and by the first 
week of December, Vienna was taken, and the strength 
of Austria and Russia prostrated. 

The allied armies presented a total of 80,000 men, in- 
cluding a division of the imperial guard under the Grand 
Duke Constantino, brother of the Emperor of Russia. 

The forces which Napoleon had to resist this great 
array hardly amounted to 70,000 combatants. 

On the 30th November, 1805, the light troops of the 
Allies were seen from the French outposts marching 
across their position towards the right of the army. Na- 
poleon spent the whole of both days on horseback at the 
advanced posts watching their movements. At length on 
the morning of the 1st Dec. the intentions of the enemy 
were clearly manifested, and Napoleon beheld with " in- 
expressible delight" their whole columns dark, and massy, 
moving across his position at so short a distance as ren- 
dered it apparent a general action was at hand. Care- 
fully avoiding the slightest interruption to their move- 
ment, he merely watched with intense anxiety their 
march, and when it became evident that the resolution 
to turn the right flank of the French army had been 



BATTLE OF AUSTEKLITZ, 1805. 25 

decided upon, he exclaimed, prophetically — " To-morrow, 
before night-fall, that army is mine." 

At four in the morning the Emperor was on horseback. 
All was still among the immense multitude concentrated 
in the French lines. Buried in sleep the soldiers forgot 
alike their triumphs and the dangers they were about to 
undergo. Gradually, however, a confused murmur arose 
from the Russian host, and all the reports from the out- 
posts announced that the advance had already commenced 
alone: the whole line. 

Gradually the stars which throughout the night had 
shone clear and bright began to disappear, and the ruddy 
glow of the east announced the approach of day. At 
last, the " Sun of Austerlitz " rose in unclouded brilliancy 
on that field of blood. 

The French army occupied an interior position, from 
whence their columns started like rays from a centre, 
while the allies were toiling in a wide semicircle round 
their outer extremity. 

His marshals, burning with impatience, stood around 
Napoleon, awaiting the signal for attack. At last the 
word was given, and on they rushed to the onslaught. 

The results of the conflict in different sections of the 
battle-field were various, the Russians and French al- 
ternately being victorious, till Napoleon, seeing there 
was not a moment to be lost, ordered Marshal Bessieres 
with the cavalry of the guard to arrest a terrible on- 
slaught of Russian cuirassiers of the guard, two thou- 
sand strong, which had already trampled under foot three 
battalions of the French. Instantly spurring their char- 
gers, the French precipitated themselves upon the enemy. 

2 



26 ETTKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The Russians were broken and driven back over tb.€ 
dead bodies of the square they had destroyed. 

Rallying, however, they returned to the charge, and 
both imperial guards met in full career ! The shock waa 
terrible ! and the most desperate cavalry action that had 
taken place during the war ensued. The infantry on 
both sides advanced to support their comrades. The 
resolution and vigor of the combatants were equal. 
Squadron to squadron, company to company, man to 
man, fought with invincible firmness. At length, how- 
ever, the stern obstinacy of the Russian yielded to the 
enthusiastic valor of the French. The cavalry and in- 
fantry of the guard gave way, and after losing their artil- 
lery and standards, were driven back in confusion almost 
to the walls of Austerlitz, while from a neighboring emi- 
nence the Emperors of Russia and Germany beheld the 
irretrievable rout of the flower of their army. 

This desperate encounter was decisive of the fate of the 
day. The Russians no longer fought for victory, but for 
existence. Great numbers sought to save themselves by 
crossing with their artillery and cavalry a frozen lake 
adjoining their line of march. The ice was already be- 
ginning to yield under the enormous weight, when the 
shells from the French batteries bursting below the sur- 
face, caused it to crack with a loud explosion. A frightful 
yell arose from the perishing multitude, and above two 
thousand brave men were swallowed up in the waves. At 
noon the allies gave way, and commenced their retreat in 
the direction of Austerlitz. 

Those who escaped being made prisoners succeeded 
before nightfall in reaching Austerlitz, already filled with 



ALLIANCE. PRUSSIA WITH FRANCE, 1805. 27 

the -wounded, the fugitives and the stragglers from every 
part of the army. 

Thus terminated the battle of Austerlitz. 

The loss of the allies was immense. Thirty thousand 
(30,000) men were killed, wounded, or made prisoners. 
Of the latter were 19,000 Russians, and 6,000 Austrians, 
most of whom were wounded. Almost the whole of their 
baggage fell into the hands of the victors. One hundred 
and eighty pieces of cannon, four hundred covered 
wagons, and forty-five standards, were taken, and the 
disorganization of the combined forces was complete. 

Twelve thousand French had been killed and wounded, 
making the frightful sum total of that dreadful day's car- 
nage, 42,000 men. 

On the 6th of Dec. an armistice was concluded at Aus- 
terlitz, and Alexander sent to Berlin the Grand Duke 
Constantine to ascertain if the Prussian King was pre- 
pared to join with him, according to the principles which 
he had sworn to adhere to at the tomb of the great Frede- 
rick, in the vigorous prosecution of the war. But the 
disaster of Austerlitz had wrought a perfidious change in 
the policy of the Prussian Cabinet. 

An ambassador was sent to Napoleon to congratulate 
him upon his success, and to propose a treaty. Napoleon 
broke out into a vehement declamation against the policy 
of the Prussian Cabinet, and expressed his determination 
now to turn his whole forces against them ; but at last 
yielding, the treaty was concluded, and a new alliance 
entered into between Prussia and France, the former 
receiving as a reward Hanover, with all the other conti- 
nental dominions of his Britannic Majesty. 



28 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

During the year 1807, disagreements sprang up between 
France and Prussia, which resulted at the battle of Jena, 
(Oct. 14th) in the total discomfiture of the latter, and 
triumph of Napoleon, who now became master of the 
whole country from the Rhine to the Yistula. Passing 
the sanguinary contests of Eylau and Friedland, we come 
to the treaty of Tilsit, the arrangement of which took 
place under circumstances eminently calculated to impress 
the imagination of mankind. 

Certain misunderstandings having arisen between Eng- 
land and Russia, and the latter power being somewhat 
crippled for the moment by numerous defeats, an armis- 
tice was proposed by Alexander, and accepted by Napo- 
leon, on the 22d of June, which ended in the treaty of 
Tilsit. 

There was little difficulty in coming to an understand- 
ing, for Prance had nothing to demand of Russia, except 
that she should close her ports against England ! Russia 
nothing to ask of France but that she should withdraw 
her armies from Poland, and permit the Emperor to 
pursue his long cherished projects of conquest in Turkey. 

The armistice having been concluded, it was agreed 
that the two Emperors should meet, to arrange, in a pri- 
vate conference, the destinies of the world. 

It took place accordingly on the 25th June. On the 
river Niemen, which separated the two armies, a raft of 
great dimensions was constructed. It was moored in the 
centre of the stream, and on its surface a wooden apart- 
ment surmounted by the eagles of France and Russia, was 
framed with all the magnificence which the time and 
circumstances would admit. 



TREATY OF TILSIT, 1807. 29 

This was destined for the reception of the Emperors 
alone ; at a little distance was stationed another raft less 
sumptuously adorned, for their respective suites. 

The shore on either side was covered with the Imperial 
Guard of the two monarchs, drawn up in triple lines. 
At one o'clock precisely, amid the thunder of artillery, 
each Emperor stepped into a boat on his own side of the 
river, accompanied by a few of his principal officers. 
The splendid suite of each monarch followed in another 
boat immediately after. 

The bark of Napoleon advanced with greater rapidity 
than that of Alexander. He arrived first at the raft, 
entered the apartment, and himself opened the door on 
the opposite side to receive the Czar ; while the shouts ot 
the soldiers drowned even the roar of the artillery. 

In a few seconds Alexander arrived, and was received 
by the Conqueror at the door on his own side. Their 
meeting was friendly, and Alexander expressed his dis- 
satisfaction with his ally, the Government of Great Britain. 

" I hate the English," said he, " as much as you do, and 
am ready to second you in all your enterprises against 
them." " In that case," replied Napoleon, " everything 
will be easily arranged, and peace is already made." 
And peace was made. A treaty was concluded between 
France and Russia, also between France and Prussia, by 
which the latter ceded to Napoleon about half her domi- 
nions, and Alexander and Napoleon, deeply impressed 
with the genius of each other, became, for the time being, 
intimate friends. By the provisions of this celebrated 
treaty, Russia was assigned the Empire of the East, while 
France acquired absolute sway in the Eangdoms of the 



30 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

"West, and both united in cordial hostility against Great 
Britain. 

France being the ally of Turkey, Napoleon could do no 
less than arrange for the evacuation of Moldavia and 
Wallachia (at that time occupied by Russian troops) ; 
but it is supposed there was a secret understanding be- 
tween the two Emperors, that ultimately, "Wallachia, 
Moldavia, and Bulgaria were to fall into the possession of 
Russia, while France was to arrange to her liking, the 
affairs of Greece and the Spanish Peninsula. 

But the sagacity of 1ST apoleon would not permit him to 
agree to the cession of Constantinople and Boumelia, 
and rivalry for the possession of that Capitol was one of 
the principal causes which afterwards brought about the 
disastrous campaign of Moscow. 

As a consequence of the downfall of Prussia, the neu- 
trality of Austria, and the accession to the confederacy of 
Alexander at Tilsit, Napoleon was emboldened to attempt 
the carrying out of his long cherished " Continental Sys- 
tem" of combining all the Continental States into one 
great alliance against England, and to compel them to 
exclude the British Flag and British merchandise from 
their harbors. 

It was at this time that he promulgated the famous 
Berlin Decree, which declared the British Islands in a 
state of blockade, and subjected all goods of British pro- 
duce or manufacture, to confiscation within his dominions, 
or those of the countries subject to his control, and pro- 
hibited all vessels from entering any harbor, which had 
touched at any British port. 

As a retaliatory measure the celebrated Orders in 



ORDERS IN COUNCIL, 1S07. 31 

Council were issued by the British Government (on the 
11th Xov. 1807), which proclaimed France and all the 
Continental States in a state of blockade, and declared 
all vessels good prize, which should be bound for any of 
their harbors, excepting such as had previously cleared 
oxxt from or touched at a British harbor. 

This was followed on the 17th December, by the Milan 
Decree, which declared that any vessel, of whatever 
nation, which shall have submitted to be searched by 
British cruisers, shall be considered and dealt with as 
English vessels, and every vessel of whatever nation, 
coming from or bound to any British harbor, shall be 
declared good prize. 

England, being mistress of the seas, enforced with 
unfeeling rigor her orders in council, entailing immense 
losses upon the commerce of neutral States, but moi 
particularly upon America, which ultimately brought 
about the war between herself and the great Republic ; 
while France, comparatively powerless on the ocean, 
invoked the aid of privateers and seized upon all British 
persons and property within her grasp. 

Since the defeat of Austria at Austerlitz, in 1805, the 
Cabinet of Yienna had adhered with cautious prudence 
to a system of neutrality. Still the Imperial Government 
had been successfully at work to fill up the ranks of their 
decimated armies, and to place themselves again in a 
position of strength. 

Napoleon was no sooner informed of these military 
preparations than he demanded an explanation of their 
import. 

Austria made professions of pacific intentions, but stil 



32 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

continued to arm herself ; the war in Spain, which Na- 
j^oleon had at this time on his hands, leading her to sup- 
pose that he would not for so slight a cause undertake 
another contest. 

In the meantime, the wily Metternich, Austrian Am- 
bassador at Paris, was endeavoring to maintain apparently 
amicable relations with the French government, while 
every effort was made to induce Alexander to join with 
Austria ; but the Czar had pledged his word to Napoleon, 
and was not inclined to break a personal engagement of 
such importance. 

The French ambassador left Vienna finally, on the 
28th Feb., 1809, and in April active hostilities broke out 
thus kindling again the names of war. 

"Warsaw, garrisoned by the French, was taken by the 
Austrians, at which time occurred an event of significant 
importance. 

In pursuing the Austrians, a courier was taken with 
despatches from the Russian General Gortchakoff to the 
Austrian Arch-Duke, congratulating him on the capture 
of Warsaw, and breathing a wish that he might soon join 
his armies to the Austrian Eagles. 

This letter was immediately forwarded to Napoleon, 
who remarked, " I see, after all, I must make war upon 
Alexander." 

The Czar disavowed the letter, and attempted explana- 
tions, but a breach was opened which was never again 
healed. 

Austria endeavored to win Prussia to her side after the 
battle of Aspern (unfavorable to Napoleon), and secret 
negotiations were carried on. But the Prussian govern- 



BATTLE OF WAGRAM, 1809. 33 

ment replied to Austria's overtures, that they had every 
disposition to assist her, but could not take part in the 
contest till the views of Russia in regard to it were 
known. 

In the meantime the struggle continued, and after a 
great number of contests, in some of which Napoleon's 
chances were desperate, finally, on the 5th of July, 1809, 
was fought the celebrated battle of Wagram, under the 
walls of Yienna, which resulted in victory to Napoleon, 
though at so dear a price as almost to equal a defeat. 
50,000 men were killed and wounded. 

The peace of Yienna followed on the 14th of October, 
and was of so humiliating a nature that it was received 
with marked disapprobation by the Cabinet of St. Peters- 
burgh, and was attended with a most important effect in 
widening the breach which was already formed between 
the two Emperors. 

The Turkish empire at this time was in a state of 
decay, and the people, from the inefficiency of the 
government, and the constantly recurring insurrections, 
in a state of misery. 

But amid the general decay, the matchless situation of 
Constantinople still attracted a vast concourse of inhabit- 
ants, and veiled under a robe of beauty the decline of 
the Queen of the East. 

This celebrated capital, the incomparable excellence of 
whose situation attracted the eagle eye of Alexander, had 
long formed the real object of discord between the Courts 
of Paris and St. Petersburg. 

"War had been formally declared by Russia against 
Turkey, in Jan., 1807, in consequence of a dispute about 

2* 



34 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

the hospodars, or governors, of Wallachia and Moldavia. 
Soon after, the consjriracy of the Janizaries broke out 
against the reforms of the Sultan, assisting materially 
Russia's designs. 

In the beginning of the year 1810 an Imperial Ukase 
appeared, annexing Moldavia and Wallachia, which for 
three years had been occupied by their troops, to the 
Russian Empire, and declaring the Danube, from the 
Austrian frontier to the Black Sea, the southern European 
boundary of their mighty dominion. 

A bloody war was the consequence, in which both 
parties made prodigious efforts, and neither gained de* 
cisive success, until the peace of Bucharest was concluded 
on the 28th of May, 1812. 

Russia was as anxious as Turkey for the cessation of 
hostilities, being desirous of withdrawing her armies from 
the "Danube to engage in the formidable contest which 
was impending over them with Napoleon. 



ANNEXATION OF FINLAND. 

Sweden was summoned to join in the alliance against 
Great Britain, to which the Swedish monarch did not 
accede. Alexander consequently declared war, and on 
the 28th of March, 1808, the following Imperial Ukase 
appeared at St. Petersburg : 

" We unite Finland, conquered by our arms, for ever to 
our Empire, and command its inhabitants forthwith to 
take the oath of allegiance to our throne" 



DIFFICULTY BETWEEN FRANCE AND BU88IA, 1810. 3o 

The Swedish Monarch, however, not being willing to 
surrender so important a portion of his dominions, was 
forced to abdicate ; and his successor endeavored to con 
elude a peace with Eussia, and to retain Finland through 
appeals to Napoleon. 

The latter was, however, bound to Alexander by the 
treaty of Tilsit, and refused to interfere. The Czar, de- 
termined to retain his conquest, marched an army across 
the gulf of Bothnia, on the ice, in March, 1809, and ar- 
rived by the middle of that month on the Swedish side, 
en route for Stockholm. 

This had the effect to intimidate the court of Stock- 
holm, who therefore ceded Finland, and peace was con- 
cluded Sept. 17, 1809. 

On the 13th Dec, 1810, Napoleon formally annexed to 
the French Empire the Hanse towns and the Duchy of 
Oldenburg. This measure irritated Alexander, who now 
grew apprehensive lest some of his ill-gotten gains should 
be wrested from him, and that the restoration of Poland 
might next be thought of. 

A convention was drawn up at St. Petersburg, and 
signed by the representatives of France and Eussia, by 
which it was stipulated, that " The kingdom, of Poland 
shall never he reestablished ; and the name of Poland and. 
Poles shall never in future be applied to any of the dis- 
tricts, or inhabitants ; and shall be effaced for ever from 
every public and official act." 

Napoleon, however, refused to ratify it, and thus again 
exasperated the Czar, who commenced to place Poland 
in a state of defence, which, in its turn, excited the jea- 
lousy of the French Emperor. 



3b ECKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Alexander, therefore, published, on the 31st of Dec, 
1810, an order, containing a material relaxation of the 
rigour of the decrees hitherto in force in the Russian Em- 
pire against English commerce. 

On the 24th Feb., 1812, the Cabinet of Prussia conclu- 
ded a treaty offensive and defensive with France ; and a 
rojal edict appeared prohibiting the introduction of colo- 
nial produce, on any pretence, from the Russian into the 
Prussian territory. Austria being at this time in close 
alliance with France, another treaty was concluded March 
14, 1812, between them, placing a considerable part of her 
resources at Napoleon's command. 

In consequence of the overbearing demands of Napoleon, 
the Swedish Government allied itself with Russia on the 
oth of April (1812), and with Great Britain on the 12th 
of July following. 

The differences between Alexander and Napoleon had 
now become so serious, that war was inevitable. But 
Napoleon knew the foe he had to grapple with, and pro- 
posed terms of peace to Great Britain on the 17th of April, 
hoping to be left to meet the Russians single-handed, and 
thus humble the overweening pride of the Czar. His pro- 
posals were, however, rejected. 

Down to the very commencement of hostilities, notes 
continued to be interchanged between the representatives 
of the two Emperors, which did little more than recapitu- 
late the mutual grounds of complaint of the two cabinets 
against each other. Finally, on the 24th of April, Alex- 
ander sent to Napoleon his ultimatum, offering an accom- 
modation on condition that France would evacuate Prussia, 
and come to an arrangement with the king of Sweden 



INVASION OF RUSSIA, 1812. 37 

which remained without any answer, on the part of the 
French Government. 

Both prepared for the worst, and on the 23d of June, 
"Napoleon arrived on the banks of the iSTiemen, with his 
countless hosts, for the invasion of Russia. 

The armies at his command, at this time, amounted in 
the aggregate, to the enormous sum of 1.250,000 men ; 
and the force which entered Russia, during the year 1812, 
was 617,158 men — 187,111 horses, and 1372 cannon. 

The regular forces of the Russians amounted, at the close 
of 1S11, to 517,000 men, 70,000 of whom were in garrison, 
and the remainder dispersed over an immense surface. 

To oppose the invasion of the French, the Russians had 
collected about 200,000 men, and upwards of 800 pieces 
of cannon. The forces of the French, therefore, exceeded 
those of the Russians, by nearly 300,000 men ; but the 
former were at an immense distance from their resources, 
and had no means of recruiting their losses ; whereas the 
latter were in their own country, and supported by the 
devotion of a fanatical and patriotic people. 

The face of the country on the Western frontier of Rus- 
sia is in general fiat, and in many places marshy ; vast 
woods of pine cover the plains, and the rivers flow in some 
places through steep banks, in others stagnate over exten- 
sive swamps, which often present the most serious obstacles 
to military operations. The villages are few and miserable. 

The wants of such a prodigious accumulation of troops 
speedily exhausted all the means of subsistence which the 
country afforded, and the stores they could convey with 
them. Forced requisitions from the peasantry became, 
therefore, necessary, and so great was the subsequent misery 



38 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

that the richest families in Warsaw were literally in danger 
of starving, and the interest of money rose to 80 per cent. 

Napoleon reached Wilna on the 28th of June, the Rus 
sians receding as he advanced, and destroying everything 
before them. On the 15th of August, the starving army 
reached the city of Smolensko, which was burned by the 
Russians, and abandoned on the 18th. 

The losses in the meantime by battle, exposure, want, 
and sickness, were fast decimating the French ranks. 
The soldiers were seized with disquietude as they contrast- 
ed their miserable quarters amid the ruins of Smolensko, 
with the smiling villages they had abandoned in their 
native land ; but amid the universal gloom, their Emperor 
was ever present, and by words and deeds of kindness, 
sustained their drooping spirits. 

Leaving Smolensko, Napoleon pressed forward, and on 
the 5th of September, arrived at Borodino where the Rus- 
sians had made a stand to oppose their march upon Mos- 
cow. 

On the 7th, two days subsequently, was fought the bloody 
battle of Borodino, the most murderous and obstinately 
contested of which history has preserved a record. 

The Russian force was 132,000 men, with 640 pieces of 
artillery. 

The French consisted of 133,000 men, with 590 pieces 
of cannon. 

There were killed 15,000 Russians and 12,000 French, 
besides upwards of 70,000 wounded on both sides, making 
a total loss of 100,000 men in this one battle. 

The French were, however, victorious, and reached 
Moscow on the 14th. The Holy City was found to be 



ENTRY OF MOSCOW, 1812. 89 

evacuated, not only by the Russian army, but by the 
inhabitants, and as the French hosts defiled through the 
silent streets, it was like entering a city of the dead. 

Not a sound was to be heard in its vast circumference ' 
the dwellings of three hundred thousand persons seemed 
as silent as the wilderness. 

Evening came on ! With increasing wonder the French 
troops traversed the central parts of the city, recently so 
crowded with passengers, but not a living creature was to 
be seen to explain the universal desolation. Night ap- 
proached ! an unclouded moon illuminated those beauti- 
ful palaces, those vast hotels, those deserted streets — all 
was still ! 

The officers broke open the doors of some of the prin- 
cipal mansions in search of sleeping quarters. They 
found every thing in perfect order : the bedrooms were 
fully furnished as if guests were expected; the drawing- 
rooms bore the marks of having been recently inhabited ; 
even the work of the ladies was on the tables, the keys in 
the wardrobes — but still not an- inmate was to be seen. 
By degrees a few of the lowest slaves emerged pale and 
trembling from the cellars, and showed the way to the 
sleeping apartments, and laid open every thing which 
these sumptuous mansions contained ; but the only account 
they could give was that the whole of the inhabitants had 
tied, and that they alone were left. The persons intrusted 
with the duty of setting fire to the city, only awaited the 
retreat of their countrymen to commence the work of 
destruction. The terrible catastrophe soon commenced. 
On the night of the 13th a fire broke out in the bourse, 
and spread to the streets in the vicinity. At midnight, on 



4:0 EUROPE JlN t D THE ALLIES. 

the loth, a bright light was seen to illuminate the northern 
and western parts of the city ; fresh fires were then seen 
breaking out every instant in all directions, and Moscow 
soon exhibited the spectacle of a sea of flame agitated by 
the wind. But it was chiefly during the nights of the 
18th and 19th that the conflagration attained its greatest 
violence. At that time the whole city was wrapped in 
flames, and volumes of fire of various colors ascended to 
the heavens in many places, diffusing a prodigious light 
on all sides, and attended by an intolerable heat. These 
balloons of flame were accompanied in their ascent by a 
frightful hissing noise, and loud explosions, the result of 
the vast stores of oil, tar, rosin, spirits, and other combus- 
tible materials, with which the greater part of the shops 
were filled. The wind, naturally high, was raised by the 
sudden rarefaction of the air to a perfect hurricane. The 
howling of the tempest drowned even the roar of the 
conflagration ; the whole heavens were filled with the 
whirl of the burning volumes of smoke, which rose on all 
sides, and made midnight as bright as day, while even 
the bravest hearts, subdued by the sublimity of the scene, 
and the feeling of human impotence in the midst of such 
elemental strife, sank and trembled in silence. Imagina- 
tion cannot conceive the horrors into which the remnant 
of the people who could not abandon their homes were 
plunged. Bereft of every thing, they wandered amid the 
ruins eagerly searching for a parent or a child : pillage 
became universal, and the wrecks of former magnificence 
were ransacked alike by the licentious soldiery and the 
suffering multitude. 

In addition to the whole French army, numbers flocked 



THE BURNING OF MOSCOW, 1812. 11 

in from tlie country to share in the general license ; furni- 
ture of the most precious description, splendid jewellery, 
Indian and Turkish stuffs, stores of wine and brandy, gold 
and silver plate, rich furs, gorgeous trappings of silk and 
satin were spread about in promiscuous confusion, and 
became the prey of the least intoxicated among the mul- 
titude. A frightful tumult succeeded to the stillness 
which had reigned in the city when the troops first 
entered. The French soldiers, tormented by hunger and 
thirst, and loosened from all discipline by the horrors 
which surrounded them, often rushed headlong into the 
burning edifices to ransack their cellars for wines and 
spirits, and beneath the ruins great numbers miserably 
perished, the victims of intemperance and the surrounding 
fire. Napoleon abandoned the Kremlin on the evening 
of the 16th. Early on the following morning, casting a 
melancholy look to the burning city, which now filled 
half the heavens with its flames, he exclaimed after a long 
silence, " This sad event is the presage of a long train of 
disasters." 

Thus vanished the hopes of those indefatigable soldiers 
who had endured so much, and fought so well. To reach 
the fabulous city whose domes and minarets were now 
fallen — had been the dream of their ambition — the goal 
which once attained, would give rest and food to their 
weariness and hunger. 

Thus Napoleon found himself possessed of a heap of 
burning ruins without food for his famishing soldiers and 
horses. 

All negotiations with the Russian authorities having 
failed, a retreat was decided upon, and the Emperor left 



42 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Moscow on the 19th of October, at the head of 105,000 
combatants. The disasters of that retreat are too well 
known to require recapitulation. 

Suffice it to say that the survivors of the French army, 
who entered Russia 500,000 strong, were but 20,000. The 
total loss of the campaign, in killed, prisoners, died from 
cold, fatigue, and famine, was over 450,000. And on 
the 13th of December, the wretched remnant of the 
French army passed the bridge of the Niemen. The 
losses of the Russians were also so great that at the end of 
the campaign not above 30,000 men could be assembled 
around the head-quarters of the Emperor Alexander. 

On the 10th Dec, early in the morning, a travelling- 
carriage in great haste drove into the Hotel d'Angleterre, 
at Warsaw. It was a small travelling britschka placed 
without wheels on a coarse sledge, made of four pieces of 
rough fir-wood, which had been almost dashed to picees 
in entering the gateway. The travellers were ushered 
into a small dark apartment, with the windows half-shut, 
and in a corner of which a servant girl strove in vain to 
light a fire with green damp billets of wood, which, after 
kindling for a moment, gradually went out, leaving those 
in the apartment to shiver with cold during three hours 
of earnest conversation. 

The travellers were Napoleon and his friend Caulain- 
court, who five days previously had bidden the remnant 
of his retreating army, in Russia, an affectionate farewell, 
and started for Paris. 

At length, it being announced that the carriage was 
ready, they mounted the sledge, and were soon lost in 
the gloom of a Polish winter. Outstripping his couriers 



THE GKAND ALLIANCE, 1813. 4:3 

in speed, on the 18th Dec., at 11 at night, the Emperor 
arrived at the Tnileries, before the Imperial government 
was even aware that he had quitted the army. And 
early next morning, while the streets of Paris were yet 
vacant, he was buried in state papers, investigating and 
arranging the disorganized affairs of the empire. 



THE GRAND ALLIANCE. 

Napoleon's power being no longer dreaded, Prussia be- 
came disaffected, and on the 28th of February, 1813, 
entered into an alliance offensive and defensive with 
Russia, called, the treaty of Kalisch, which was the 
foundation stone of that grand alliance which finally 
overthrew the French Emperor. Great efforts were 
made to induce Saxony to join the league ; but she re- 
mained permanently attached to the fortunes of- Na- 
poleon. 

Meanwhile Alexander despatched a confidential agent 
to Yienna, in order to sound the Imperial Cabinet on the 
prospect of a European alliance against France, and it 
was soon after discovered that, notwithstanding Austria's 
professed friendship for Napoleon, there was a secret un- 
derstanding existing between the Cabinets of St. Peters- 
burg and Vienna, as also with the King of Prussia. 

The accession of Sweden was received on the 3d of 
March. 

During the month of April a convention took place be- 
tween Great Britain, Russia, and Prussia, when England, 
in addition to the immense supplies of arms and military 



44 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

stores which she was furnishing, agreed to advance two 
millions sterling ($10,000,000) to sustain the operations of 
the Prince Royal of Sweden in the north of Germany, 
and a like sum to enable Russia and Prussia to keep up 
their vast armaments in Saxony. 

On the 14th of June another treaty was signed stipu- 
lating that England should pay to Prussia, for the six 
remaining months of the year, about £700,000, in con- 
sideration of which, the latter was to keep in the field an 
army of 80,000 men. 

By another treaty, signed the day after, between Russia 
and Great Britain, it was stipulated that Great Britain 
should pay to its Emperor, till January, 1814, £1,333,334 
in monthly instalments, by which he was to maintain 
160,000 men in the field, independent of the garrisons of 
strong places. On the 27th of July Austria joined the 
alliance (against their Emperor's son-in-law), England 
agreeing to pay her equal to one million sterling, in the 
event of her taking part in the war ; thus completing the 
formidable alliance of Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, 
Austria, and Sweden. 

While the accession of new and formidable powers to 
the league was taking place, the energy of Napoleon 
seemed to rise with the difficulties against which he had 
to contend, and to acquire an almost supernatural degree 
of vigor. 

His shattered armies were reinforced, and, undis- 
couraged by the recollection of Moscow, he prepared 
again to make his power felt against the formidable odds 
which the energies of five empires were concentrating for 
his destruction. 



BATTLE OF LEIPSIC, 1813. 45 

Already again in the month of April was he in the 
field, and in May occupied Dresden, driving his enemies 
before him. 

In August, however, the allies having been strongly 
reinforced, made their first attack upon that city. Through 
August and September there were constantly recurring 
battles, by which the French were so harassed that Na- 
poleon at length resolved to retreat in the direction of 
Leipsic, and on the 15th of October his army, consist- 
ing of 175,000 men and 720 pieces of cannon, occupied 
that city, and encamped around it. The allies followed 
with 290,000 men and above 1300 guns. The 18th 
dawned, and the last hour of the French Empire began to 
toll. The celebrated battle of Leipsic was fought. The 
conflict of such masses was terrible, and was so disastrous 
to the French, that a retreat was resolved upon, which 
commenced the next morning, the allies entering the city 
as the French retired across the river. 

The battle of Leipsic was, perhaps, the most unfortunate 
in its results which Napoleon ever experienced ; and the 
subsequent retreat of his army to the Rhine partook, in a 
measure, of the horrors of that from Moscow. 

"W*hile the discomfited French were retiring across the 
Rhine at Mayence, the allied troops followed closely on 
their footsteps, and Alexander entered Frankfort on the 
5th of November. Napoleon had left on the 1st, remain- 
ing six days with his army on the opposite shores of the 
rivev ; and reached Paris on the 9th. 

The day after, in the council of state, he unfolded the 
danger of his situation with manly sincerity, and with 
nervous eloquence referred to the invasion by Wellington 



46 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

of his southern frontiers, while the allies menaced the 
north. A levy by conscription was made of 600,000 
men, and preparations to resist the invasion were im- 
mediately ordered. 

On the 1st of Dec. the allied sovereigns published a 
declaration from Frankfort, offering peace to France on 
condition that she would confine her limits between the 
Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. 

But the negotiation was protracted by Napoleon to 
gain time, until the impatient allies crossed the Rhine, 
and Denmark, Naples, and the Rhenish Confederation, 
joined the alliance. 

The allies had now accumulated forces so prodigious, 
for the invasion of France, that nothing in ancient or 
modern times had ever approached to their magnitude. 

Including 80,000 Austrians, destined to act in the north 
of Italy, and a hundred and forty thousand British, Portu- 
guese, and Spaniards, who, under the guidance of Welling- 
ton, were assailing the south, the whole force of the allies 
formed a mass . of a million and twenty-eight thousand 
?nen, which was prepared to act against the French empire. 

The French army was so reduced, that the Emperor 
could not, with the utmost exertion, reckon upon more 
than 350,000 men to defend the frontiers of his wide- 
spread dominions. Of these, 100,000 were blockaded in 
Hamburg and on the Oder, 50,000 were maintaining a 
painful defensive against the Austrians in the north of 
Italy, and 100,000 were struggling against the superior 
armies of Wellington on the Spanish frontiers. So that 
the real army which the Emperor had at his disposal to 
resist the invasion on the Rhine did not exceed 110,000. 



ABDICATION OF NAPOLEON, 1814. 47 

On the 31st of Dec, 1813, the united and victorious- 
allies crossed that river. Numerous battles ensued. At 
length a conference was held, and the allied sovereigns 
offered to conclude peace, and recognize Napoleon as 
Emperor of France, on certain conditions, which would 
have left him an empire greater than that over which his 
nephew now reigns. This did not, however, satisfy his 
"ambition. The overtures were refused, and on the 30th 
of March, 1814, after numerous sanguinary engagements, 
and the storming of the city, the allies entered Paris, 
which had been forced to capitulate. 

On the 11th of April Napoleon signed his abdication at 
Fontainbleau, and on the 28th of the same month, at eight 
at night, set sail from Frejus for the island of Elba, on 
board the English frigate " The Undaunted" 

On the 1st of March, 1815, having escaped from Elba, 
he again entered France, with a few hundred men, and 
was everywhere received with acclamation and shouts of 
joy, which resounding throughout the land, were echoed 
to the Tuileries, and caused such consternation, that the 
court became alarmed, and at midnight, on the 19th, 
Louis XYIII. and the royal family, left Paris, and 
escaped into Belgium, while at nine o'clock in the even- 
ing of the next day Napoleon entered the vacated palace. 

The allies became alarmed, and on the 25th of March, 
Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Great Britain, concluded a 
treaty, engaging to unite their forces against Bonaparte, 
with a secret stipulation that the high contracting parties 
should not lay down their arms till the complete destruc- 
tion of Napoleon had been effected. Such, however, was 
the poverty at this time of the Continental powers, that 



48 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

they were unable to put their armies in motion without 
pecuniary assistance. And a treaty was entered into at 
Yienna on the 30th of April, by which England agreed 
to furnish Austria, Russia, and Prussia, the necessary 
means for the prosecution of the war, and actually paid 
to foreign powers during the year above £11,000,000 
($55,000,000). 

Napoleon left Paris on the morning of the 12th of 
June, and joined his army, which had been concentrated 
near the frontiers of Belgium, on the 13th. The returns 
on the evening of the 14th, gave 122,100 men under 
arms, and at day-break on the 15th his army crossed the 
frontier. 

Yarious conflicts ensued between different portions of 
his forces, directed to different points, and those of the 
allies, who, under Wellington, were in occupation of 
Brussels. 

At length, the morning of the 18th dawned upon the 
battle field of Waterloo, and its evening witnessed the 
annihilation of the French army, and flight of Napoleon. 

On the 17th of July, the victorious allies, headed by 
Wellington, a second time entered Paris ; and on the 
following day, Louis XYIIL made his public entry into 
that gay capital, escorted by the national guard. 

On the 29th of June, Napoleon had left Malmaison (the 
home of his lost Josephine) for Pochefort, arriving at that 
harbor on the 3d of July, from whence he was anxious to 
embark for America. 

But the blockade of English cruisers was so vigilant 
that there was no possible chance of avoiding them. 

Under these circumstances, he at length adopted the 







■ i ■ v/ 



'/' P^W! ■ 




KAFOLEON AND JOSEPHINE 



NAPOLEON ON THE BELLEROPHON. 49 

resolution of throwing himself upon the generosity of the 
British government ; and on the 14th of July embarked 
on board the " Bellerophon," which set sail immediately 
for England, — and Xapoleon looked for the last time 
upon the receding shores of that land which had beep 
the home of his greatness. 



CHAPTER II. 

Origin of the War in the Peninsula. — Siege of Saragossa. — Murderous 
Character of the War. — Success of the French in Portugal. — Battle of 
Rolica. — Battle of Vimiero. — Convention of Cintra. — The French 
evacuate Portugal. — Preparations of Napoleon for another Campaign. 
— He subdues the Country, and enters Madrid. — Address to the Span- 
ish People. — Napoleon recalled by the War -with Austria. — Soult and 
Ney intrusted with the Command of the French Army in Spain. — 
Retreat of Sir John Moore. — Battle of Corunna. — Peath of Sir John 
Moore. — The British Army sail for England. 

Before entering into a particular account of the 
battles in which I was myself an actor, it might not 
be uninteresting to my readers to take a hasty survey 
of the war which was now raging in the Peninsula, 
and the causes which led to British intervention. In 
doing this, I can, of course, in so small a work, only 
allude to its principal events, and relate some anec- 
dotes, interesting, as well from their authenticity, as 
from the patriotism of which they were such bright 
examples. 

Charles IV., a descendant of the Spanish Bour- 
bons, in 1807, occupied the throne of Spain. He 
was feeble in mind, impotent in action, and extremely 
dissolute in his habits. Writing to Napoleon, he 
gives an account of himself which must have filled 
with contempt the mind of the hard-working emperor 
for the imbecile king who thus disgraced a throne. 
"Every day," says he, "winter as well as summer, 
I go out to shoot, from morning till noon. I then 
dine, and return to the chase, which I continue till 



ORIGIN OF THE PENINSULAR WAR. 51 

sunset. Manuel Godoy then gives me a brief account 
of what is going on, and I go to bed, to recommence 
the same life on the morrow." His wife, Louisa, 
was a shameless profligate. She had selected, from 
the body-guard of the king, a young soldier, named 
Godoy, as her principal favorite ; and had freely lav- 
ished on him both wealth and honors. He was known 
as the Prince of Peace. A favorite of the king, as 
well as queen, the realm was, in reality, governed 
by him. Ferdinand, Prince of the Asturias, and heir 
to the throne, hated this favorite. Weak, unprinci- 
pled, and ambitious, unwilling to wait until the crown 
should become his by inheritance, it is said that he 
concerted a scheme to remove both his parents by 
poison. He was arrested, and imprisoned. Natural 
affection was entirely extinct in the bosoms of his 
parents. Louisa, speaking of her son, said that " he 
had a mule's head and a tiger's heart;" and history 
informs us that if injustice is clone here, it is only to 
the tiger and mule. Both king and queen did all 
they could to cover his name with obloquy, and pre- 
pare the nation for his execution. But the popular 
voice was with Ferdinand. The rule of the base-born 
favorite could not be tolerated by the Spanish hidal- 
gos; and the nation, groaning under the burdens 
that the vices and misrule of Charles had brought 
upon them, looked with hope to the youth, whose 
very abandonment had excited an interest in his 
favor. From the depths of his prison he wrote to 
Napoleon, imploring his aid, and requesting an alii- 



52 EUKOPE A1STD THE ALLIES, 1808. 

ance with his family. Charles, too, invoked the as- 
sistance " of the hero destined by Providence to save 
Europe and support thrones." A secret treaty was 
concluded between the emperor and Charles, whose 
object was nominally the conquest of Portugal; and 
thus French troops were brought to Madrid. A 
judicial investigation was held on the charge against 
Ferdinand, which ended in the submission of that 
prince to his parents. But the intrigues of the two 
parties still continued. In March, 1808, hatred of 
Gocloy, and contempt of the king, had increased to 
such a degree, that the populace of Madrid could no 
longer be controlled. The palace of the Prince of 
Peace was broken open and sacked. The miserable 
favorite, allowed scarcely a moment's warning of the 
coming storm, had barely time to conceal himself 
beneath a pile of old mats, in his garret. Here, for 
thirty-six hours, he lay, shivering with terror and 
suffering. Unable longer to endure the pangs of 
thirst, he crept down from his hiding-place, was 
seen, and dragged out by the mob. A few select 
troops of the king rushed to his rescue ; and, half 
dead with fright and bruises, he was thrown into 
prison. The populace, enraged by the loss of their 
victim, now threatened to attack the palace. Charles, 
alarmed for his own safety, abdicated in favor of 
Ferdinand, and that prince was proclaimed king, amid 
the greatest rejoicings. But Charles wrote to Napo- 
leon that his abdication was a forced one, and again 
implored his aid. Soon after, determined to advo- 



ORIGIN OF THE PENINSULAR WAR. 53 

cate his cause in person, he went to Bayonne to meet 
the emperor, accompanied by Louisa and Godoy, and, 
with them, his two younger sons. Ferdinand, jealous 
of his father's influence with Napoleon, determined 
to confront him there. Ilis people everywhere 
declared against this measure. They cut the traces 
of his carriage ; they threw themselves before the 
horses, imploring him, with prayers and tears, not to 
desert his people. But Ferdinand went on. The 
emperor received them all with kindness. In a pri- 
vate interview with him, Charles, Louisa, and Godoy, 
willingly exchanged their rights to the uneasy crown 
of Spain for a luxurious home in Italy, where money 
for the gratification of all their voluptuous desires 
should be at their command. Ferdinand and his two 
brothers, Carlos and Francisco, were not so easily 
persuaded to surrender the crown of their ancestors. 
But Napoleon's iron will at length prevailed, and the 
three brothers remained not unwilling prisoners in 
the castle of Valencey. The throne of Spain was 
now vacant. The right to fill it was assumed by the 
emperor, in virtue of the cession to him, by Charles, 
of his rights. The council of Castile, the municipal- 
ity of Madrid, and the governing junta, in obedience 
to Napoleon's dictate, declared that their choice had 
fallen upon Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples. He 
was already on his way to Bayonne. On the 20th 
of July he entered Madrid; and, on the 24th, he 
wns proclaimed King of Spain and the Indies. 
But, if the rulers of Spain, and a few of her pusil- 



54 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

laniinous nobles, had agreed to accept a king of Na- 
poleon's choice, not so decided the great body of the 
people. They everywhere flew to arms. To ac- 
knowledge the authority of the self- constituted gov- 
ernment, was to declare one's self an enemy to the 
nation. Assassinations at Cadiz and Seville were 
imitated in every part of Spain. Grenada had its 
murders ; Carthagena rivalled Cadiz in ruthless cru- 
elty ; and Valencia reeked with blood. In Gallicia, 
the people assembled and endeavored to oblige their 
governor to declare war against France. Prompted 
by prudence, he advised them to delay. Enraged at 
this, the ferocious soldiers seized him, and, planting 
their weapons in the earth, tossed him on their 
points, and left him to die. In Asturias, two noble- 
men were selected, and sent to implore the assistance 
of England. In England, the greatest enthusiasm 
prevailed. The universal rising of the Spanish na- 
tion was regarded as a pledge of their patriotism, 
and aid and assistance was immediately promised and 
given. Napoleon, with his usual promptness, poured 
his troops into Spain. They were successful in many 
places ; but the enemy, always forming in small num- 
bers, if easily defeated, soon appeared in another 
place. The first permanent stand was made at Sara- 
gossa. Palafox had, with some hastily gathered fol- 
lowers, disputed the passage of the Ebro, and, routed 
by superior force, had fallen back upon this city, 
whose heroic defence presents acts of daring courage 
of which the world's history scarcely furnishes a par- 



SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA. 55 

allel. It was regularly invested by the French, 
under Lefebre Desnouttes. The city had no regular 
defences, but the houses were very strong, being 
vaulted so as to be nearly fire-proof, and the massy 
walls of the convents afforded security to the rifle- 
men who filled them. The French troops had at one 
time nearly gained possession of the town, but, for 
some unknown reasons, they fell back. This gave 
confidence to the besieged. They redoubled their 
exertions. All shared the labor,- — women, children, 
priests and friars, labored for the common cause, — 
and in twenty-four hours the defences were so strength- 
ened that the place was prepared to stand a siege. 
But the next morning Palafox imprudently left the 
city, and offered battle to the French. He was, of 
course, quickly beaten ; but succeeded in escaping, 
with a few of his troops, into the city. A small hill 
rises close to the convent of St. Joseph's, called Monte 
Torrero. Some stone houses on this hill were strongly 
fortified, and occupied by twelve hundred men. This 
place was attacked by Lefebre, and taken by assault, 
on the 27th of June, 1808. The convents of St. 
Joseph's and the Capuchins were next attacked by the 
French, and, after a long resistance, taken bystunn. 
The command of the besiegers was now transferred to 
General Verdier. He continued the siege during the 
whole of July, making several assaults on the gates, 
from which he was repulsed, with great loss. Tho 
Spaniards, having received a reinforcement, made a 
sortie to retake Monte Torrero ; but were defeated, 



5Q EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

their commander killed, and most of their number 
left dead. On the 2d of August, the enemy opened 
a dreadful fire on the town. One of their shells 
lighted upon the powder magazine, which was in the 
most secure part of the city, and blew it up, de- 
stroying many houses and killing numbers of the 
besieged. The carnage, during this siege, was truly 
terrible. Six hundred women and children perished, 
and above forty thousand men were killed. 

It was at this place' that the act of female heroism 
so beautifully celebrated by Byron was performed. 
An assault had been made upon one of the gates, 
which was withstood with great courage by the be- 
sieged. At the battery of the Portillo, their fire had 
been so fatal, that but one artillery-man remained 
able to serve the gun. He seemed to bear a charmed 
life. Though shot and shell fell thick and fast around 
him, he still stood unharmed, and rapidly loaded and 
discharged his gun. At length, worn out by his own 
exertions, his strength seemed about to fail. There 
was little time, in a contest like this, to watch for the 
safety of others ; but there was one eye near which 
not for a moment lost sight of him. Augustina, a 
girl twenty-two years of age, had followed her dar- 
ing lover to his post. She would not leave him 
there alone, although every moment exposed her to 
share his death. When she saw his strength begin 
to fail, she seized a cordial, and held it to his lips. 
In the very act of receiving it, the fatal death-stroke 
came, and he fell dead at her feet. Not for a mo- 



THE MAID OF SARAGOSSA. 57 

ment paused the daring maid. No tear fell for the 
slain. She lived to do what he had done. Snatch- 
ing a match from the hand of a dead artillery-man, 
she fired off the gun, and swore never to quit it 
alive, during the siege. The soldiers and citizens, 
who had begun to retire, stimulated by so heroic an 
example, rushed to the battery a second time, and 
again opened a tremendous fire upon the enemy. 
For this daring act, Augustina received a small shield 
of honor, and had the word "Saragossa" embroi- 
dered on the sleeve of her dress, with the pay of an 
artillery-man. Byron thus commemorates this her- 
oism, in his own transcendent manner : 

" The Spanish maid, aroused, 
Hangs on the willow her unstrung guitar, 
And, all unsexed, the anlace hath espoused, 
Sung the loud song, and dared the deeds of war. 
And she, whom once the semblance of a scar 
Appalled, an owlet's 'larum filled with dread, 
Now views the column-scattering bayonet jar, 
The falchion flash, and o'er the yet warm dead 
Stalks with Minerva's step, where Mars might quake to tread. 

Ye who shall marvel when you hear her tale, 
! had you known her in the softer hour, — • 
Marked her black eye, that mocks her coal-black veil, — 
Heard her light, lively tones in lady's bower, — 
Seen her long locks, that foil the painter's power, — 
Her fairy form, with more than female grace, — 
Scarce would you deem that Saragossa's tower 
Beheld her smile in danger's Gorgon face, 
Thin the closed ranks, and lead in glory's fearful chase ! 

Her lover sinks — she sheds no ill-timed tear ; 
Her chief is slain — she fills his fatal post ; 
Her fellows flee — she checks their base career ; 
The foe retires — she heads the sallying host, 



58 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

Who can appease like her a lover's ghost ? 
Who can avenge so 'well a leader's fall ? 
"What maid retrieve, when man's flushed hope is lost? 
"Who hang so fiercely on the flying Gaul, 
Foiled by a woman's hand, before the battered wall ! 

On the 4th of August, the French stormed the 
city, and penetrated as far as the Corso, or public 
square. Here a terrible conflict was maintained. 
Every inch of ground was manfully contested ; but 
the enemy's cavalry was irresistible, and the be- 
sieged began to give way. All appeared lost. The 
French, thinking the victory gained, began to plun- 
der. Seeing this, the besieged rallied, and attacked 
them. They succeeded in driving the enemy back 
to the Corso. They also set fire to the convent of 
Francisco, and many perished in its conflagration. 
Night now came, to add its horrors to the scene. The 
fierce contest still raged on. The lunatic asylum 
was invaded, and soon the dread cry of "Fire" 
mingled with the incoherent ravings of its inmates. 
" Here," says one writer, " were to be seen grinning 
maniacs, shouting with hideous joy, and mocking the 
cries of the wounded ; there, others, with seeming 
delight, were dabbling in the crimson fluid of many 
a brave heart, winch had scarcely ceased to beat. 
On one side, young and lovely women, dressed in the 
fantastic rigging of a mind diseased, were bearing 
away headless trunks and mutilated limbs, which lay 
scattered around them, while the unearthly cries of 
the idiot kept up a hideous concert with the shouts 
of the infuriated combatants. In short, it was a 



DESPERATE CONFLICT. 5 ( J 

scene of unmingled horror, too fearful for the mind 
to dwell upon." After a severe contest and dreadful 
carnage, the French forced their way into the Corso, 
in the very centre of the city, and before night were 
in possession of one-half of it. Lefebre now be 
lievcd that he had effected his purpose, and required 
Palafox to surrender, in a note containing only these 
words: "Headquarters, St. Engrucia, — Capitula- 
tion." Equally laconic the brave Spaniard's an- 
swer was : "Headquarters, Saragossa, — War to the 
knife's point." 

The contest which was now carried on stands 
unparalleled. One side of the Corso was held by the 
French soldiery ; the opposite was in possession of 
the Arragonese, who erected batteries at the end of 
the cross-streets, within a few paces of those the 
French had thrown up. The space between these 
was covered with the dead. Next clay, the powder 
of the besieged began to fail ; but even this dis- 
mayed them not. One cry broke from the people, 
whenever Palafox came among them, " War to the 
knife! — no capitulation." The night was coming 
on, and still the French continued their impetuous 
onsets. But now the brother of Palafox entered the 
city with a convoy of arms and ammunition, and a 
reinforcement of three thousand men. This succor 
was as unexpected as it was welcome, and raised the 
desperate courage of the citizens to the highest pitch 
of enthusiasm. The war was now carried on from 
street to street, and even from room to room- A 
G 



60 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

priest, by the name of Santiago Suss, displayed the 
most undaunted bravery, fighting at the head of the 
besieged, and cheering and consoling the wounded 
and the dying. At the head of forty chosen men, 
he succeeded in procuring a supply of powder for the 
town, and, by united stratagem and courage, effected 
its entrance, even through the French lines. This 
murderous contest was continued for eleven success- 
ive days and nights, — more, indeed, by night than 
by day, for it was almost certain death to appear by 
daylight within reach of houses occupied by the other 
party. But, concealed by the darkness of the night, 
they frequently dashed across the street, to attack 
each other's batteries ; and the battle, commenced 
there, was often carried into the houses beyond, from 
room to room, and from floor to floor. As if not 
enough of suffering had accompanied this memorable 
siege, a new scourge came to add its horrors to the 
scene. Pestilence, with all its accumulated terrors, 
burst upon the doomed city. Numbers of putrescent 
bodies, in various stages of decomposition,were strewed 
thickly around the spot where the death-struggle was 
still going on. The air was impregnated with the 
pestiferous miasm of festering mortality ; and this, 
too, in a climate like Spain, and in the month of 
August! This evil must be removed, — but how ? 
Certain death would have been the penalty of any 
Arragonese who should attempt it. The only rem- 
edy was to tie ropes to the French prisoners, and, 
pushing them forward amid the dead and dying 



ANECDOTE. 61 

compel them to remove the bodies, and bring them 
away for interment. Even for this office, as neces- 
sary to .one party as the other, there was no truce ; 
only the prisoners were better secured, by the com- 
passion of their countrymen, from the fire. 

From day to day, this heroic defence was kept up, 
with unremitting obstinacy. In vain breaches were 
made and stormed ; the besiegers were constantly 
repulsed. At last Verdier received orders to retire; 
and the French, after reducing the city almost to 
ashes, were compelled to abandon their attacks, and 
retreat. 

Meanwhile, all over Spain the contest was contin- 
ued, and everywhere with the most unsparing cru- 
elty. Her purest and noblest sons often fell victims 
to private malice. " No one's life," says one au- 
thor, " was worth a week's purchase." One anec- 
dote may serve as an example to illustrate the spirit 
of the times. 

It was night. The rays of the full moon shed 
their beautiful light on the hills of the Sierra Morena. 
On one of these hills lay a small division of the pa- 
triotic army. Its chief was a dark, fierce-looking 
man, in whose bosom the spirit of human kindness 
seemed extinct forever. A brigand, who had long 
dealt in deeds of death, he had placed himself with- 
out the pale even of the laws of Spain. But, when 
the war commenced, he had offered his own services 
and that of his men against the French, and had been 
accepted. On this night he sat, wrapped in Ins huge 



62 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

cloak, beside the decaying watch-fire, seemingly deep 
in thought. Near him lay a prisoner on the grass, 
with the knotted cords so firmly hound around his 
limbs that the black blood seemed every moment 
ready to burst from its enclosure. He might have 
groaned aloud in his agony, had not the pride of his 
nation, — for he, too, was a Spaniard, — and his own 
deep courage, prevented. His crime was, that, yield- 
ing to the promptings of humanity, he had shown 
kindness to a wounded French officer, and had thus 
drawn upon himself suspicion of favoring their cause. 
Short trial was needed, in those days, to doom a man 
to death ; and, with the morning's dawn, the brave 
Murillo was informed that he must die. 

With closed eyes and a calm countenance, his 
heart was jet filled with agony, as he remembered 
his desolated home and his defenceless little ones. 
Suddenly, a light footstep was heard in the wood 
adjoining. The sentinel sprang to his feet, and 
demanded, " Who goes there ? " A boy, over whose 
youthful brow scarce twelve summers could have 
passed, answered the summons. "I would speak 
with your chief," he said. The ruthless man raised 
his head as the boy spoke this ; and, not waiting for 
an answer, he sprang forward and stood before him 
" What is your errand here, boy ? " asked the brig- 
and. " I come a suppliant for my father's life," he 
said, pointing to the prisoner on the grass. "He 
dies with the morrow's sun," was the unmoved reply. 
" Nay, chieftain, spare him, for my mother's sake, 



ANECDOTE. 63 

and for her children. Let him live, and, if yon must 
have blood, I \vill die for him;" and the noble boy 
threw himself at the feet of the chief, and looked up 
imploringly in his face. ' ' He is so good ! — Yon smile : 
yon will save his life ! " "Yon speak lightly of life," 
said the stern man, " and yon know little of death. 
Are yon willing to lose one of your ears, for your 
father's sake?" "I am," said the boy, and he 
lemoved his cap, and fixed his eyes on his father's 
face. Not a single tear fell, as the severed member, 
struck off by the chief's hand, lay at his feet. " You 
bear it bravely, boy ; are you willing to lose the 
other?" "If it will save my father's life," was 
the unfaltering response. A moment more, and the 
second one lay beside its fellow, while yet not a 
groan, or word expressive of suffering, passed the 
lip- of the noble child. " Will you now release my 
father?" he asked, as he turned to the prostrate 
man, whose tears, which his own pain had no power 
to bring forth, fell thick and fast, as he witnessed the 
bravery of his unoffending son. For a moment it 
seemed that a feeling of compassion had penetrated 
the flinty soul of the man of blood. But, if the spark 
had Mien, it glimmered but a moment on the cold 
iron of that heart, and then went out forever. 
" Before I release him, tell me who taught you thus 
to endure suffering." "My father," answered the 
boy. " Then that father must die ; for Spain is not 
safe while he lives to rear such children." And 
6* 



64 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

before the morning dawned father and son slept theil 
last sleep. 

"While Lefebre and Verdier were prosecuting the 
fatal siege of Saragossa, Marshal Bessieres was pur- 
suing his victorious course in Castile, compelling one 
force after another to acknowledge the authority of 
Joseph. General Duhesme and Marshal Moncey, in 
Catalonia, met with varied success; — repulsed at 
Valencia and at Gerona, they yet met with enough 
good fortune to maintain their reputation as general*. 
In Andalusia, the French army, under Dupont, met 
with serious reverses. At Baylen, eighteen thousand 
men laid down their arms, only stipulating that they 
should be sent to France. This capitulation, dis- 
graceful in itself to the French, was shamefully 
broken. Eighty of the officers were murdered, at 
Lebrixa, in cold blood ; armed only with their 
swords, they kept their assassins some time at bay, 
and succeeded in retreating into an open space in the 
town, where they endeavored to defend themselves ; 
but, a fire being opened upon them from the surround- 
ing houses, the last of these unfortunate men were 
destroyed. The rest of the troops were marched to 
Cadiz, and many died on the road. Those who 
survived the march were treated with the greatest 
indignity, and cast into the hulks, at that port. Two 
years afterwards, a few hundreds of them escaped, 
by cutting the cables of their prison-ship, and drift- 
ing in a storm upon a lee shore. The remainder 
were sent to the desert island of Cabrera, without 



FRENCH SUCCESSES IN PORTUGAL. 65 

clothing, without provisions, with scarcely any water, 
and there died by hundreds. It is related that some 
of them dug several feet into the solid stone with a 
single knife, in search of water. They had no 
shelter, nor was there any means of providing it. 
At the close of the war, when returning peace caused 
an exchange of prisoners, only a few hundred of all 
those thousands remained alive. This victory at 
Baylen greatly encouraged the Spanish troops, 
whose ardor was beginning to fail, before the con- 
quering career of Bessieres, and the disgust and ter- 
ror occasioned by the murders and excesses of the 
populace. When the news of the capitulation 
reached Madrid, Joseph called a council of war, and 
it was decided that the French should abandon 
Madrid, and retire behind the Ebro. 

But if the French arms had met with a reverse in 
Spain, it was compensated by their success in Portu- 
gal. Junot, at the head of twenty-five thousand 
men, marched from Alcantara to Lisbon. At an 
unfavorable season of the year, and encountering 
fatigue, and want, and tempests, that daily thinned 
his ranks, until of his whole force only two thousand 
remained, he yet entered Lisbon victorious. This 
city contained three hundred thousand inhabitants, 
and fourteen thousand regular troops were collected 
there. A powerful British fleet was at the mouth of 
the harbor, and its commander, Sir Sidney Smith, 
offered his powerful aid, in resisting the French ; yet 
such was the terror that Napoleon's name excited, 



66 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

and such the hatred of their rulers, that the people 
of Lisbon yielded, almost without a struggle. When 
Napoleon, in his Moniteur, made the startling an- 
nouncement that " the house of Braganza had ceased 
to reign," the feeble prince-regent, alarmed for his 
own safety, embarked, with his whole court, and sailed 
for the Brazils. Junot himself was created Duke of 
Abrantes, and made governor-general of the king- 
dom. He exerted himself to give an efficient 
government to Portugal ; and met with such success, 
that a strong French interest was created, and steps 
were actually taken to have Prince Eugene declared 
King of Portugal. The people themselves, and the 
literary men, were in favor of this step ; but it met 
with the strongest opposition from the priests, and 
this was nurtured and fanned into a flame by persons 
in the pay of the English, whose whole influence 
was exerted in making Napoleon's name and nation 
as odious to the people as possible. Among a 
people so superstitious as the Portuguese, the monks 
would, of course, exert great influence ; and many 
were the prodigies which appeared, to prove that 
their cause was under the protection of Heaven. 
Among others, was that of an egg, marked by some 
chemical process, with certain letters, which were 
interpreted to indicate the coining of Don Sebastian, 
King of Portugal. This adventurous monarch, years 
before, earnestly desirous of promoting the interests 
of his country, and of the Christian religion, had 
raised a large army, consisting of the flower of his 



STATE OF AFFAIRS IN PORTUGAL. 67 

nobility, and the choicest troops of his kingdom, and 
crossed the Straits into Africa, for the purpose of 
waging war with the Moorish king. Young, ardent 
and inexperienced, he violated every dictate of pru- 
dence, liy marching into the enemy's country to meet 
an army compared with which his own was a mere 
handful. The whole of his army perished, and his 
own fate was never known. But, as his body was 
not found among the dead, the peasantry of Portu- 
gal, ardently attached to their king, believed that he 
would some time return, and deliver his country from 
all their woes. He was supposed to be concealed 
in a secret island, waiting the destined period, in 
immortal youth. The prophecy of the o^g: was, 
therefore, believed ; and people, even of the higher 
classes, were often seen on the highest points of the 
hills, looking towards the sea with earnest gaze, for 
the appearance of the island Avhere their long-lost 
hero was detained. 

The constant efforts of the English and the priests 
at length had their effect, in arousing the Portuguese 
peasantry into action ; and the news of the insurrec- 
tion in Spain added new fuel to the flame. The 
Spaniards in Portugal immediately rose against the 
French ; and their situation would have become dan- 
gerous in the extreme, had not the promptness and 
dexterity of Junot succeeded in averting the danger 
for the present. Such was the state of affairs in the 
Peninsula, when the English troops made their 
descent into Spain. It has often been said that 



68 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

England was moved by pure patriotism, or by a 
strong desire to relieve the Spanish nation, in being 
thus prodigal of her soldiers and treasures ; but 
her hatred to Napoleon, and her determination, at 
all hazards, to put a stop to his growing power, 
was, in all probability, the real motive that in- 
fluenced her to bestow aid upon that people. 

The English collected their army of nine thousand 
in Cork, in June, 1808. Sir Hugh Dalrymple had, 
nominally the chief command of the army, and Sir 
Harry Burrard the second ; but the really acting 
officers were, Sir Arthur Wellesley and Sir John 
Moore. These troops disembarked at the Monclego 
river on the first of August, and marching along the 
coast, proceeded to Rolica, where they determined 
to give battle to the French. Junot, having left in 
Lisbon a sufficient force to hold the revolutionary 
movement in check, placed himself at the head of 
his army, and advanced to the contest. He was not, 
however, present at the battle of Rolico. The 
French troops were under the command of Generals 
Loison and Laborde. Nearly in the centre of the 
heights of Rolica stands an old Moorish castle.. This, 
and every favorable post on the high ground, was 
occupied by detachments of the French army. It 
was a strong position ; but Sir Arthur, anxious to 
give battle before the two divisions of the French 
army should effect a junction, decided upon an im- 
mediate attack. 

It was morning, and a calm and quiet beauty 



BATTLE OF ROLICA. 69 

seemed to linger on the scene of the impending 
conflict. The heights of Rolica, though steep and 
difficult of access, possess few of the sterner and more 
imposing features of mountain scenery. The heat of 
summer had deprived them of much of that bright- 
ness of verdure common in a colder climate. Here 
and there the face of the heights was indented by 
deep ravines, worn by the winter torrents, the pre- 
cipitous banks of which were occasionally covered 
with wood, and below extended groves of the cork- 
tree and olive ; while Obidas, with its ancient walls 
and fortress, and stupendous aqueduct, rose in the 
middle distance. In the east Mount Junto reared 
its lofty summit, while on the west lay the broad 
Atlantic. And this was the battle-ground that was 
to witness the first outpouring of that blood which 
flowed so profusely, on both sides, during the progress 
of this long and desolating war. Sir Arthur had 
divided his army into three columns, of which he 
himself commanded the centre, Colonel Trant the 
right, while the left, directed against Loison, was 
under General Ferguson. The centre marched against 
Laborde, who was posted on the elevated plain. This 
general, perceiving, at a glance, that his position was 
an unfavorable one, evaded the danger by falling 
rapidly back to the heights of Zambugeria, where he 
could only be approached by narrow paths, leading 
through deep ravines. A swarm of skirmishers, 
starting forward, soon plunged into the passes ; and, 
spreading to the right and left, won their way among 



70 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

the rocks and tangled evergreens that overspread the 
steep ascent, and impeded their progress. 

With still greater difficulty the supporting column 
followed, their formation being disordered in the 
confined and rugged passes, while the hollows echoed 
with the continual roar of musketry, and the shouts 
of the advancing troops were loudly answered by the 
enemy, while the curling smoke, breaking out from 
the side of the mountain, marked the progress of 
the assailants, and showed how stoutly the defence 
was maintained. The right of the 29th arrived first 
at the top; and, ere it could form, Col. Lake w T as 
killed, and a French company, falling on their flanks, 
broke through, carrying with them fifty or sixty 
prisoners. Thus pressed, this regiment fell back, 
and, re-forming under the hill, again advanced to the 
charge. At the same time, General Ferguson poured 
his troops upon the other side of the devoted army. 
Laborde, seeing it impossible to effect a junction with 
Loison, or to maintain his present position, fell back, 
— commencing his retreat by alternate masses, and 
protecting his movements by vigorous charges of 
cavalry, — and halted at the Quinta de Bugagleira. 
where his scattered detachments rejoined him. From 
this place he marched all night, to gain the position 
of Montechique, leaving three guns on the field of 
battle, and the road to Torres Vedras open to the 
victors. The French lost six hundred men, killed 
and wounded, among the latter of which was the 
gallant Laborde himself. Although the English were 



BATTLE OF VIMIERO. 71 

victors in this strife, the heroic defence of the French 
served to show them that they had no mean enemy 
to contend with. The personal enmity to Napoleon, 
and the violent party prejudices in England, were so 
great, that the most absurd stories as to the want of 
order and valor in his troops gained immediate cre- 
dence there ; and many of the English army believed 
that they had but to show themselves, and the French 
would fly. The bravery with which their attack 
was met was, of course, a matter of great surprise, 
and served as an efficient check to that rashness 
which this erroneous belief had engendered. 

Instead of pursuing this victory, as Wellesley would 
have done, he was obliged to go to the seashore, to 
protect the landing of General Anstruthers and his 
troops. After having effected a junction with this 
general, he marched to Vimiero, where the French, 
under Junot, arrived on the 21st of August. The 
following brief and vivid sketch of this combat is 
taken from Alexander's Life of Wellington : 

"Vimiero is a village, pleasantly situated in a 
gentle and quiet valley, through which flows the 
small river of Maceria. Beyond, and to the westward 
and northward of this village, rises a mountain, 
of which the western point reaches the sea; the 
eastern is separated by a deep ravine from the 
height, over which passes the road that leads from 
Lourinha and the northward to Vimiero. On this 
mountain were posted the chief part of the infantry, 
with eight pieces of artillery. General Hill's brigade 



72 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

was on the right, and Ferguson's on the left, having 
one battalion on the heights, separated from them by 
the mountain. Towards the east and south of the 
town lay a mill, wholly commanded by the mountain 
on the west side, and commanding, also, the sur- 
rounding ground to the south and east, on which 
General Fane was posted, with his riflemen, and the 
50th regiment, and General Anstruthers' brigade, 
with the artillery, which had been ordered to that 
position during the night. 

"About eight o'clock a picket of the enemy's 
horse was first seen on the heights, toward Lourinha ; 
and, after pushing forward his scouts, soon appeared 
in full force, with the evident object of attacking the 
British. 

"Immediately four brigades, from the mountains 
on the east, moved across the ravine to the heights 
on the road to Lourinha, with three pieces of cannon. 
They were formed with their right resting upon these 
heights, and their left upon a ravine which separates 
the heights from a range at Maceria. On these 
heights were the Portuguese troops, and they were 
supported by General Crawford's brigade. 

" The enemy opened his attack, in strong columns, 
against the entire body of troops on this height. On 
the left they advanced, through the fire of the rifle- 
men, close up to the 50th regiment, until they were 
checked and driven back by that regiment, at the 
point of the bayonet. The French infantry, in these 
divisions, was commanded by Laborde, Loison, and 



BATTLE OF VIMIERO. 73 

Kellerman, and the horse by General Margaron. 
Their attack was simultaneous, and like that of a man 
determined to conquer or to perish. Besides the con- 
flict on the heights, the battle raged with equal fury 
on every part of the field. The possession of the 
road leading into Vimiero was disputed with perse- 
vering resolution, and especially where a strong body 
had been posted in the church-yard, to prevent the 
enemy forcing an entrance into the town. Up to 
this period of the battle the British had received and 
repulsed the attacks of the enemy, acting altogether 
on the defensive. But now they were attacked in 
flank by General Ackland's brigade, as it advanced 
to its position on the height to the left, while a brisk 
cannonade was kept up by the artillery on those 
heights. 

"The brunt of the attack was continued on the 
brigade of General Fane, but was bravely repulsed at 
all points. Once, as the French retired in confusion, 
a regiment of light dragoons pursued them with so 
little precaution, that they were suddenly set upon 
by the heavy cavalry of Margaron, and cut to pieces, 
with their gallant colonel at their head. 

"No less desperate was the encounter between 
Kellerman' s column of reserve and the gallant 43d, 
in their conflict for the vineyard adjoining the church. 
The advanced companies were at first driven back, 
with great slaughter; but, again rallying upon the 
next ranks, they threw themselves upon the head of 
a French column in a ravine, and, charging with the 



74 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

bayonet, put them to the rout. At length the vigor 
of the enemy's attack ceased. They, pressed on all 
sides by the British, had lost thirteen cannons and a 
great number of prisoners ; but were still enabled to 
retire without confusion, owing to the protection of 
their numerous cavalry. An incident occurred in 
this battle, so highly characteristic of Highland cour- 
age, that I cannot refrain from quoting it. It is 
very common for the wounded to cheer their more 
fortunate comrades, as they pass on to the attack. A 
man named Stewart, the piper of the 71st regiment, 
was wounded in the thigh, very severely, at an early 
period of the action, and refused to be removed. He 
sat upon a bank, playing martial airs, during the 
remainder of the battle. As a party of his comrades 
were passing, he acldfessed them thus : ' Weel, my 
brave lads, I can gang na langer wi' ye a fightin', 
but ye shall na want music.' On his return home, 
the Highland Society voted him a handsome set of 
pipes, with a flattering inscription engraved on them." 
The total loss of the French was estimated at 
three thousand. Soon after the battle, General Kel- 
lerman presented himself, with a strong body of 
cavalry, at the outposts, and demanded an interview 
with the English general. The result of this inter- 
view was the famous convention of Cintra. By it, it 
was stipulated that Portugal should be delivered up 
to the British army, and the French should evacuate 
it, with arms and baggage, but not as prisoners of 
war ; that the French should be transported, by the 



THE FRENCH EVACUATE PORTUGAL. 75 

British, into their own country; that the army should 
carry with it all its artillery, cavalry, arms, and am- 
munition, and the soldiers all their private property. 
It also provided that the Portuguese who had favored 
the French party should not be punished. 

According to the terms of this convention, Junot, 
on the 2d of September, yielded the government of 
the capital. This suspension of military rule was 
followed by a wild scene of anarchy and confusion. 
The police disbanded of their own accord, and crime 
stalked abroad on every side. Lisbon was illumin- 
ated with thousands of little lamps, at their depart- 
ure ; and such was the state of the public mind, that 
Sir John Hope was obliged to make many and severe 
examples, before he succeeded in restoring order. 

On the 13th, the Duke of Abrantes embarked, 
with his staff; and by the 30th of September only 
the garrisons of Elvas and Almeida remained in Por- 
tugal. This convention was very unpopular in Eng- 
land. The whole voice of the press was against it ; 
and such was the state of feeling, that Sir Harry 
Burrard and Sir Hugh Dalrymple were both recalled, 
to present themselves before a court of inquiry, insti- 
tuted for the occasion. After a minute investigation, 
these generals were declared innocent, but it was 
judged best to detain them at home. 

Having seen Portugal under the control of the 
English, let us return to the affairs of Spain. Im- 
mediately after the battle of Baylen, which induced 
the retreat of Joseph from Madrid, Ferdinand was 
7* 



*76 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

again declared king, and the pomp and rejoicings 
attendant on this event pnt an end to all business, 
except that of intrigue. The French were every- 
where looked upon by the Spanish as a conquered 
foe, and they spent their time in the pageant of 
military triumphs and rejoicings, as though the enemy 
had already fled. From this dream of fancied secu- 
rity Palafox was at length awakened by the appear- 
ance of a French corps, which retook Tudela, and 
pushed on almost to Saragossa. He appealed to the 
governing junta for aid and assistance. Much time 
was lost in intrigue and disputes, but at length the 
army was organized by appointing La Pena and 
Llamas to the charge. To supply the place usually 
occupied by the commander-in-chief, a board of 
general officers was projected, of which Castanos 
should be chief; but when some difficulty arose as 
to who the other members should be, this plan was 
deferred, with the remark, that "when the enemy 
was driven across the frontier, Castanos would have 
leisure to take his seat." Of the state of the Span- 
ish forces at this time, Napier says, " The idea of a 
defeat, the possibility of a failure, had never entered 
their minds. The government, evincing neither ap- 
prehension, nor activity, nor foresight, were con- 
tented if the people believed the daily falsehoods 
propagated relative to the enemy; and the people 
were content to be so deceived. The armies were 
neglected, even to nakedness; the soldier's constancy 
under privations cruelly abused ; disunion, cupidity, 



ENERGY OF THE FRENCH. 77 

incapacity, prevailed in the higher orders , patriotic 
ardor was visibly abating among the lower classes ; 
the rulers were grasping, improvident, and boasting ; 
the enemy powerful, the people insubordinate. Such 
were the allies whom the British found on their 
arrival in Spain. ' ' Sir Arthur Wellesley had returned 
to Ireland, and the chief command was now given to 
Sir John Moore. This general, with the greatest 
celerity, marched his troops to the Spanish frontier, 
by the way of Almieda, having overcome almost 
insurmountable obstacles, arising from the state of 
affairs in Spain. Sir David Baird, with a force of 
ten thousand men, landed at Corunna, and also ad- 
vanced to the contest ; but they soon found that they 
were to meet an enemy with whom they were little 
able to cope. 

Napoleon, with that energy so often displayed by 
him, when the greatness of the occasion required its 
exercise, collected, in an incredibly short space of 
time, an immense army of two hundred thousand 
men, most of them veterans who had partaken of 
the glories of Jena, Austerlitz, and Friedland. 
These were divided by the emperor into eight parts, 
called " corps d'armee." At the head of each of 
them was placed one of his old and tried generals, — 
veterans on whom he could rely. The very names 
of Victor, Bessieres, Moncey, Lefebre, Mortier, 
Ney, St. Cyr, and Junot, speak volumes for the 
character of the army. 

These troops were excited to the highest pitch of 



T8 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

enthusiasm, by the emperor's address, as he passed 
through Paris, promising that he would head them 
in person, to drive the hideous leopard into the sea. 
What were the scattered and divided troops of the 
Spaniards, to contend with such a force ? The grand 
French army reached Yittoria almost without an in- 
terruption. Blake was in position at Villarcayo, the 
Asturians were close at hand, Romana at Bilboa, and 
the Estremadurans at Burgos. With more valor than 
discretion, Blake made an attack upon Tornosa. 
The enemy pretended to retreat. Blake, flushed 
with his apparent success, pursued them with avid- 
ity, when he suddenly came before twenty-five thou- 
sand men, under the Duke of Dantzic, and was 
furiously assailed. Blake, after a gallant defence, 
was obliged to retreat, in great confusion, upon Bil- 
boa. He rallied, however, and was again in the field 
in a few days, fought a brave action with Villate, and 
was this time successful. With the vain-glory of his 
nation, he next attacked the strong city of Bilboa. 
Here, Marshal Victor gained a signal success, Blake 
losing two of his generals, and many of his men. 
Romana, who had joined Blake, renewed the action, 
with his veterans. They were made prisoners, but 
their brave chief escaped to the mountains. Napo- 
leon himself now left Bayonne, and directed his 
course into Spain. Only one day sufficed for his 
arrival into Yittoria. At the gates of the city, a 
large procession, headed by the civil and military 
chiefs, met him, and wished to escort him to a splen 



THE PAS<j OF SOMOSIERRA. 70 

did house pripared for his reception ; but they were 
destined to a disappointment. Napoleon was there, 
not for pomp oi show, but to direct, with his genius, 
the inarcb of chat army which he had raised. Jump- 
ing from his horse, he entered the first small inn he 
observed, and calling for his maps, and a report of 
the situation of the armies on both sides, proceeded 
to arrange the plan of his campaign. By daylight 
the next morning, his forces were in motion. The 
hastily levied troops of the Conde de Belvidere, him- 
self a youth of only twenty years, were opposed to 
him. These were routed, with great slaughter, — one 
whole battalion, composed of the students of Sala- 
manca and Lecon, fell to a man. 

The army of the centre, under the command of 
Castanos, which was composed of fifty thousand men, 
with forty pieces of cannon, Avas totally routed at 
Tudela, by the French, under Lasnes and Ney ; and 
now but one stronghold remained to the Spaniards, 
between the enemy and Madrid. This was the pass 
of the Somosierra. Here the Spanish army, under 
St. Juan, had posted their force. Sixteen pieces of 
artillery, planted in the neck of the pass, swept the 
road along the whole ascent, which was exceedingly 
steep and favorable for the defence. The Spanish 
troops were disposed in lines, one above another ; 
and when the French came on to the contest, they 
warmly returned their fire, and stood their ground. 
As yet, the grand battery had not opened its fire. 
This was waiting for the approach of the centre, under 



80 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

Napoleon himself. And now Napoleon, seeing thai 
his troops were not advancing, rode slowly into the 
foot of the pass. The lofty mountain towered above 
him. Around its top hung a heavy fog, mingled with 
the curling smoke that was ascending from the 
mouth of all those cannon, rendering every object 
indistinct in the distance. Silently he gazed up the 
mountain. A sudden thought strikes him. His 
practised eye has discerned, in a moment, what 
course to pursue. Turning to his brave Polish 
lancers, he orders them to charge up the cause- 
way, and take the battery. They dashed onward. 
As they did so, the guns were turned full upon them, 
and their front ranks were levelled to the earth ; but, 
ere they could reload, the Poles, nothing daunted, 
sprang over their dying comrades, and before the 
thick smoke, which enveloped them as a cloud, had 
dispersed, they rushed, sword in hand, upon the sol- 
diers, and, cutting down the gunners, possessed 
themselves of the whole Spanish battery. The panic 
became general. The Spaniards fled, leaving arms, 
ammunition, and baggage, to the enemy, and the 
road opea to Madrid. Meanwhile, this city was in 
a state of anarchy seldom equalled. A multitude of 
peasants had entered the place. The pavements 
were taken up, the streets barricaded, and the houses 
pierced. They demanded arms and ammunition. 
These were supplied them. Then they pretended 
that sand had been mixed with the powder furnished. 
The Marquis of Perales, an old and worthy gentle- 



NAPOLEON BEFORE MADRID. 81 

man, was accused of the -deed. The mob rushed tc 
his house. They had no regard for age. The) 
seized him by his silvery hair, and, dragging' him 
down the steps, drew him through the streets until 
life was extinct. For eight days the mob held pos- 
session of the city. No man was safe ; none dared 
assume authority, or even offer advice. Murder, 
and lust, and rapine, and cruelty, stalked fearlessly 
through the streets. On the morning of the ninth, 
far away on the hills to the north-west, appeared a 
large body of cavalry, like a dark cloud overhanging 
the troubled city. At noon, the resistless emperor 
sat down before the gates of Madrid, and summoned 
the city to surrender. Calmness and cpiict reigned 
in the French camp, but Madrid was struggling like 
a wild beast in the toils. Napoleon had no wish to 
destroy the capital of his brother's kingdom, but he 
was not to be trifled with. At midnight, a second 
summons was sent. It was answered by an equivo- 
cal reply, and responded to by the roar of cannon 
and the onset of the soldiery. This was an appeal 
not to be resisted. Madrid was in no state to stand 
a siege. At noon, two officers, in Spanish uniform, 
and bearing a flag of truce, were observed approach- 
ing the French headquarters. They came to demand 
a suspension of arms, necessary, they said, to per- 
suade the people to surrender. It was granted, and 
they returned to the city, with Napoleon's message. 
Before six o'clock in the morning, Madrid must sur- 
render, or perish. Dissensions arose, but the voice 



82 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

of prudence prevailed, and the capital yielded. Na- 
poleon was wise ; lie had no wish to goad a people 
already incensed to fury. The strictest discipline 
was maintained, and a soldier of his own guard was 
shot for having stolen a watch. Shops were re- 
opened, public amusements recommenced, and all 
was quiet. In six short weeks every Spanish army 
was dissipated. From St. Sebastian to the Asturias, 
from the Asturias to Talavera, from Talavera to the 
gates of Saragossa, all was submission, and beyond 
that boundary all was apathy or dread. 

An assemblage of the nobles, the clergy, the corpo- 
rations, and the tribunals, of Madrid, now waited 
on Napoleon at his headquarters, and presented an 
address, in which they expressed their desire to have 
Joseph return among them. Napoleon's reply was 
an exposition of what he had done and intended doing 
for Spain. Could the people but have yielded their 
prejudices, and submitted to his wise plans, what seas 
of tears and blood, what degradation and confusion, 
might have been spared to poor, unhappy Spain ! 

" I accept," said he, " the sentiments of the town 
of Madrid. I regret the misfortunes that have be- 
fallen it, and I hold it as a particular good fortune, 
that I am enabled to spare that city, and save it yet 
greater misfortunes. I have hastened to take meas- 
ures to tranquillize all classes of citizens, knowing 
well that to all people and men uncertainty is intol- 
erable. 

" I have preserved the religious orders, but I have 



ADDRESS TO THE SPANISH PEOPLE. 83 

restrained the number of monks ; no sane person 
can doubt that they are too numerous. Those who 
are truly called to this vocation, by the grace of God, 
will remain in the convents ; those who have lightly, 
or for worldly motives, adopted it, will have their 
existence secured among the secular ecclesiastics, 
from the surplus of the convents. 

" I have provided for the wants of the most inter- 
esting and useful of the" clergy, the parish priests. 

"I have abolished that tribunal against which Eu- 
rope and the age alike exclaimed. Priests ought to 
guide consciences, but they should not exercise any 
exterior or corporal jurisdiction over men. 

" I have taken the satisfaction which was due to 
myself and to my nation, and the part of vengeance 
is completed. Ten of the principal criminals bend 
their heads before her ; but for all others there is 
absolute and entire pardon. 

"I have suppressed the rights usurped by the 
nobles during civil wars, when the kings have been 
too often obliged to abandon their own rights, to 
purchase tranquillity and the repose of the people. 

" I have suppressed the feudal rights, and every 
person can now establish inns, mills, ovens, weirs, 
and fisheries, and give good play to their industry, 
only observing the laws and customs of the place. 
The self-love, the riches, and the prosperity, of a small 
number of men, were more hurtful to your agricul- 
ture than the heats of the dog-days. 

"As there is but one God, there should be in one 
8 



84 EUEOPJE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

estate but one justice ; wherefore all the particular 
jurisdictions have been usurped, and, being contrary 
to the national rights, I have, destroyed them. I have 
also made known to all persons that which each can 
have to fear, and that which they may hope for. 

' ' The English armies I will drive from the Penin- 
sula. Saragossa, Valencia, Seville, shall be reduced, 
either by persuasion or by force of arms. 

"There is no obstacle capable of retarding, for 
any length of time, my will ; but that which is above 
my power is to constitute the Spaniards a nation, 
under the orders of a king, if they continue to be 
imbued with divisions, and hatred towards France, 
such as the English partisans and the enemies of the 
continent have instilled into them. I cannot estab- 
lish a nation, a king, and Spanish independence, if 
that king is not sure of the affection and fidelity of 
his subjects. 

" The Bourbons can never reign again in Europe. 
The divisions in the royal family were concerted by 
the English. It was not either King Charles or his 
favorite, but the Duke of Infantado, the instrument 
of England, that was upon the point of overturning 
the throne. The papers recently found in his house 
prove this. It was the preponderance of England 
that they wished to establish in Spain. Insensate 
project ! which would have produced a long war with- 
out end, and caused torrents of blood to be shed. 

" No power influenced by England can exist upon 
this continent. If any desire it, their desire is folly 



ADDRESS TO THE SPANISH PEOPLE. 85 

and sooner or later will ruin them. I shall be obliged 
to govern Spain ; and it will be easy for me to do it, 
by establishing a viceroy in each province. How- 
ever, I will not refuse to concede my rights of con- 
quest to the king, and to establish him in Madrid, 
when the thirty thousand citizens assemble in the 
churches, and on the holy sacrament take an oath, 
not with the mouth alone, but with the heart, and 
without any Jesuitical restriction, ' to be true to the 
king, — to love and support him.' Let the priests 
from the pulpit and in the confessional, the tradesmen 
in their correspondence and in their discourses, incul- 
cate these sentiments in the people ; then I will 
relinquish my rights of conquest, and I will place 
the king upon the throne, and I will take a pleasure 
in showing myself the faithful friend of the Span- 
iards. 

" The present generation may differ in opinions. 
Too many passions have been excited; but your 
descendants will bless me, as the regenerator of the 
nation. They will mark my sojourn among you as 
memorable days, and from those days they will date 
the prosperity of Spain. These are my sentiments. 
Go, consult your fellow-citizens ; choose your part, 
but do it frankly, and exhibit only true colors." 

The ten criminals were the Dukes of Infantado, 
of Hijah, of Mediniceli, and Ossuna ; Marquis Santa 
Cruz, Counts Fernan, Minez, and Altamira ; Prince 
of Castello Franco, Pedro Cevallos, and the Bishop 



86 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

of St. Ander, were proscribed, body and goods, as 
traitors to France and Spain. 

Napoleon now made dispositions indicating a vast 
plan of operations. But, vast as his plan of cam- 
paign appears, it was not beyond the emperor's 
means , for, without taking into consideration his 
own genius, activity and vigor, there were upon 
his muster-rolls above three hundred and thirty 
thousand men and above sixty thousand horse ; two 
hundred pieces of field artillery followed his corps tc 
battle ; and as many more remained in reserve. Of 
this great army, however, only two hundred and 
fifty thousand men and fifty thousand horses were 
actually under arms with the different regiments, 
while above thirty thousand were detached or in 
garrisons, preserving tranquillity in the rear, and 
guarding the communications of the active forces. 
The remainder were in hospitals. Of the whole host, 
two hundred and thirteen thousand were native 
Frenchmen, the residue were Poles, Germans and 
Italians ; thirty-five thousand men and five thousand 
horses were available for fresh enterprise, without 
taking a single man from the lines of communication. 

The fate of the Peninsula hung, at this moment, 
evidently upon a thread ; and the deliverance of that 
country was due to other causes than the courage, 
the patriotism, or the constancy, of the Spaniards. 
The strength and spirit of Spain was broken ; the 
enthusiasm was null, except in a few places, in con- 
sequence of the civil wars, and intestinal divisions! 



BONAPARTE LEAVES SPAIN. 87 

incited by the monks and British hirelings ; and the 
emperor was, with respect to the Spaniards, per- 
fectly master of operations. He was in the centre 
of the country ; he held the capital, the fortresses, 
the command of the great lines of communication 
between the provinces; and on the wide military 
horizon no cloud interrupted his view, save the city 
of Saragossa on the one side, and the British army 
on the other. " Sooner or later," said the emperor, 
and with truth, " Saragossa must fall." The subju- 
gation of Spain seemed inevitable, when, at this 
instant, the Austrian war broke out, and this mastei • 
spirit was suddenly withdrawn. England then put 
forth all her vast resources, and the genius and vigor 
of Sir John Moore, aided, most fortunately, by the 
absence of Napoleon, and the withdrawal of the 
strength of his army for the subjugation of the 
Peninsula ; and it was delivered from the French, after 
oceans of blood had been spilt and millions of treasure 
wasted, to fall into the hands of the not less tyran- 
nical and oppressive English. "But through what 
changes of fortune, by what unexpected helps, by 
what unlooked-for events, — under what difficulties, by 
whose perseverance, and in despite of whose errors, 
— let posterity judge ; for in that judgment," says 
Napier, " only will impartiality and justice be 
found." 

Tidings having reached the emperor that the 
Austrian army was about to invade France, he re- 
called a large portion of his army, and appointing: 
8* 



88 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

his brother Joseph to be his lieutenant-general, he 
allotted separate provinces to each corps d'armee, 
and directing the imperial guard to hasten to France, 
he returned to Valladolid, where he received the 
addresses of the nobles and deputies of Madrid, and 
other great towns ; and after three days' delay, he 
departed hini&elf, with scarcely any escort, but with 
such astonishing speed as to frustrate the designs 
which some Spaniards had, in some way, formed 
against his person. 

The general command of the French army in 
Spain was left with Soult, assisted by Ney. This 
gallant general, bearing the title of the Duke of 
Dalmatia, commenced his pursuit of the English 
army with a vigor that marked his eager desire to 
finish the campaign in a manner suitable to its bril- 
liant opening. Sir John Moore had arrived in Sala- 
manca by the middle of November, and on the 23d 
the other divisions of the army had arrived at the 
stations assigned them. Sir David Baird had already 
reported himself at Astorga, when Moore received 
positive information that the French had entered 
Valladolid in great force. And this place was only 
three days' march distant from the British. At a 
glance, the great mind of Moore comprehended the 
full difficulty of his critical situation. In the heart 
of a foreign country, unsupported by the Spanish 
government, his army wanting the very necessaries 
of life, he found himself obliged to commence that 
retreat in winter, over mountains covered with snow, 



RETREAT OF SIR JOHN MOORE. 89 

which proved so fatal to the British army, or wait to 
meet the French troops, flushed with victory, and 
sustained by an overwhelming force. In vain he 
appealed to the junta of Salamanca for aid. In vain 
he endeavored to arouse the spirit of patriotism, 
which had shone forth so brightly in the first days 
of the insurrection. Instead of aiding him either to 
advance or retreat, they endeavored to direct him 
what course to pursue ; and painted, with true Spanish 
pride and hyperbole, in glowing colors, what their 
armies had done, and what they could do. His 
camp was therefore struck, and he retreated through 
the rocks of Gallicia, closely followed by the pursu- 
ing army. Whenever the advance guards of the 
enemy approached, the British rallied with vigor, 
and sustained their reputation for bravery ; but they 
displayed a lamentable want of discipline in all other 
parts of their conduct. The weather was tempestu- 
ous ; the roads miserable ; the commissariat was 
utterly defective, and the very idea that they were 
retreating was sufficient to crush the spirits of the 
soldiery. At Bembibre, although the English well 
knew that the French were close behind, they broke 
into the immense wine-vaults of that city. All effort 
by their officers to control them was utterly useless. 
Hundreds became so inebriated as to be unable to 
proceed, and Sir John Moore was obliged to proceed 
without them. Scarcely had the reserve marched 
out of the village, when the French cavalry appeared. 
In a moment the road was filled with the miserable 



90 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1808. 

stragglers, who canie crowding after the troops, some 
with shrieks of distress and wild gestures, others 
with brutal exclamations; while many, overcome 
with fear, threw away their arms, and those who 
preserved them were too stupidly intoxicated to fire, 
and kept reeling to and fro, alike insensible to their 
clanger and disgrace. The enemy's horsemen, per- 
ceiving this, bore at a gallop through the disorderly 
mob, cutting to the right and left as they passed, 
and riding so close to the columns that the infantry 
were forced to halt in order to protect them. At 
Villa Franca even greater excesses were committed ; 
the magazines were plundered, the bakers driven 
away from the ovens, the wine-stores forced, the 
doors of the houses were broken, and the scandalous 
insubordination of the soldiers was, indeed, a disgrace 
to the army. Moore endeavored to arrest this dis- 
order, and caused one man, taken in the act of 
plundering a magazine, to be hanged. He also 
endeavored to send despatches to Sir David Baird, 
directing him to Corunna, instead of Yigo ; but his 
messenger became drunk and lost his despatches, and 
this act cost the lives of more than four hundred 
men, besides a vast amount of suffering to the rest 
of the army. An unusual number of women and 
children had been allowed to accompany the army, 
and their sufferings were, indeed, dreadful to witness. 
Clark, in his history of the war, gives a heart-rend- 
ing account of the horrors of this retreat. " Tha 
mountains were now covered with snow ; there wag 



RETREAT OP SIR JOHN MOORE. 91 

neither provision to sustain nature nor shelter from 
the rain and snow, nor fuel for fire to keep the vital 
heat from total extinction, nor place where the weary 
and footsore could rest for a single hour in safety. 
The soldiers, barefooted, harassed and weakened by 
their excesses, were dropping to the rear by hundreds ; 
while broken carts, dead animals, and the piteous 
appearance of women, with children, struggling or 
falling exhausted in the snow, completed the dread- 
ful picture. It was still attempted to carry forward 
some of the sick and wounded ; — the beasts that drew 
them failed at every step, and they were left to 
perish amid the snows." "I looked around," says 
an officer, " when we had hardly gained the highest 
point of those slippery precipices, and saw the rear 
of the army winding along the narrow road. I saw 
their way marked by the wretched people, who lay 
on all sides, expiring from fatigue and the severity 
of the cold, their bodies reddening in spots the white 
surface of the ground." A Portuguese bullock- 
driver, who had served the English from the first 
day of their arrival, was seen on his knees amid the 
snow, dying, in the attitude and act of prayer. He 
had, at least, the consolations of religion, in his dying 
hour. But the English soldiers gave utterance to far 
different feelings, in their last moments. Shame and 
anger mingled with their groans and imprecations on 
the Spaniards, who had, as they said, betrayed them. 
Mothers found their babes sometimes frozen in their 
arms, and helpless infants were seen seeking for 



92 ETJEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

nourishment from the empty breasts of their dead 
mothers One woman was taken in labor upon the 
mountain. She lay down at the turning of an angle, 
rather more sheltered than the rest of the way 
from the icy sleet which drifted along ; there she 
was found dead, and two babes which she had brought 
forth struggling in the snow. A blanket was thrown 
over her, to hide her from sight, — the only burial that 
could be afforded ; and the infants were given in 
charge to a woman who came up in one of the carts, 
little likely, as it was, that they could survive such 
a journey." 

Soult hung close on the rear of this unfortunate 
army, and pursued them until they reached Corunna, 
on the 1 2th of January. As the morning dawned, the 
weary and unfortunate general, saddened by the 
dark scenes through which he had passed, sensible 
that the soldiers were murmuring at their retreat, un- 
supported by his Spanish allies, and well aware that 
rumor and envy and misunderstanding would be 
busy with his name in his own native land, appeared 
on the heights that overhung the town. With eager 
and anxious gaze, he turned to the harbor, hoping to 
perceive there his fleet, which he had ordered to sail 
from Vigo. But the same moody fortune which had 
followed him during his whole career pursued him 
here. The wintry sun looked down upon the foam- 
ing ocean, and only the vast expanse of water met 
his view. The fleet, detained by contrary winds, 
was nowhere visible ; and once more he was obliged 



DESTRUCTION OF MAGAZINES AT CORUNNA. 93 

to halt with his forces, and take up quarters. The 
army was posted on a low ridge, and waited for the 
French to come up. The sadness of the scene was 
by no means passed. Here, stored in Corunna, was a 
large quantity of ammunition, sent over from Eng 
land, and for the want of which both the Spanish 
and English forces had suffered, and which Spanish 
idleness and improvidence had suffered to remain 
here for months, unappropriated. This must now be 
destroyed, or fall into the possession of the enemy. 
Three miles from the town were piled four thousand 
barrels of powder on a hill, and a smaller quantity 
at some distance from it. On the morning of the 
13th, the inferior magazine blew up, with a terrible 
noise, and shook the houses in the town ; but when 
the train reached the great store, there ensued a 
crash like the bursting forth of a volcano ; — the earth 
trembled for miles, the rocks were torn from their 
bases, and the agitated waters rolled the vessels, as 
in a storm ; a vast column of smoke and dust, shoot- 
ing out fiery sparks from its sides, arose perpen- 
dicularly and slowly to a great height, and then a 
shower of stones and fragments of all kinds, bursting 
out of it with a roaring sound, killed many persons 
who remained too near the spot. Stillness, slightly 
interrupted by the lashing of tha waveo on the shore, 
succeeded, and then the business of the day went 
on. The next scene was a sad one. All the horses 
of the army were collected together, and, as it was 
impossible to embark them in face of the enemy, they 



94 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

were ordered to be shot. These poor animals would 
otherwise have been distributed among the French 
cavalry, or used as draft-horses. 

On the 14th, the transports from Yigo arrived. 
The dismounted cavalry, the sick and wounded, the 
best horses, belonging to the officers, which had been 
saved, and fifty-two pieces of artillery, were em- 
barked during the night, only retaining twelve guns 
on shore, ready for action. And now the closing 
scene of this sad drama was rapidly approaching, 
giving a melancholy but graceful termination to the 
campaign. 

On the night of the 15th, everything was shipped 
that was destined to be removed, excepting the fight- 
ing men. These were intending to embark, as soon 
as the darkness should permit them to move without 
being perceived, on the night of the 16th ; but in 
the afternoon the French troops drew up, and offered 
battle. This the English general would not refuse, 
and the action soon became general. The battle was 
advancing, with varied fortune, when Sir John Moore, 
who was earnestly watching the result of the battle 
in the village of Elvina, received his death-wound. 
A spent cannon-ball struck him on his breast. The 
shock threw him from his horse, with violence ; but 
he rose again, in a sitting posture, his countenance 
unchanged, and his steadfast eye still fixed on the 
regiments before him, and betraying no signs of pain. 
In a few moments, when satisfied that his troops were 
gaining ground, his countenance brightened, and he 



DEATH OF SIR JOHN MOORE. 95 

suffered himself to be carried to the rear. Then was 
seen the dreadful nature of his hurt. The shoulder was 
shattered to pieces ; the arm was hanging by a piece 
of skin ; the ribs over the heart were broken and bared 
of flesh, and the muscles of the breast torn into long 
strips, which were interlaced by their recoil from the 
dragging shot. As the soldiers placed him in a blan- 
ket, his sword got entangled, and the hilt entered the 
wound. Captain Hardinge, a staff officer, who was 
near, attempted to take it off ; but the dying man 
stopped him, saying, " It is as well as it is ; I had 
rather it should go out of the field with me." And 
in that manner, so becoming to a soldier, he was 
borne from the fight by his devoted men, who went 
up the hill weeping as they went. The blood flowed 
fast, and the torture of his wound was great ; yet, 
such was the unshaken firmness of his mind, that 
those about him judged, from the resolution of his 
countenance, that his hurt was not mortal, and said 
so to him. He looked steadfastly at the wound for a 
few moments, and then said, " No, — I feel that to 
be impossible." Several times he caused his attend- 
ants to turn around, that he might behold the field 
of battle; and, when the firing indicated the advance 
of the British, he discovered his satisfaction, and per- 
mitted his bearers to proceed. Being brought to Iris 
lodgings, the surgeon examined his wound, but there 
was no hope. The pain increased, and he spoke with 
great difficulty. Addressing an old friend, he said, 
"You know that I always wished to die this way." 
9 



96 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

Again he asked if the enemy were defeated ; and 
being told that they were, observed, "It is a great 
satisfaction to ine that we have beaten the French." 
Once, when he spoke of his mother, he became agi- 
tated. It was the only time. He inquired after his 
friends and officers who had survived the battle, 
and did not even now forget to recommend those 
whose merit entitled them to promotion. His strength 
failed fast ; and life was almost extinct, when he 
exclaimed, as if in that dying hour the veil of the 
future had been lifted, and he had seen the baseness 
of his posthumous calumniators, " I hope the people 
of England will be satisfied ; I hope my country 
will do me justice." In a few minutes afterwards 
he died, and his coipse, wrapped in a military cloak, 
was interred by the officers of his staff, in the citadel 
of Corunna. The guns of the enemy paid his funeral 
honors, and the valiant Duke of Dalmatia, with a 
characteristic nobleness, raised a monument to his 
memory. The following is so beautiful and touching 
a description of his burial, that we cannot refrain 
from quoting it, even though itinay be familiar to 
most of our readers. It was written by the Rev. 
Charles Wolfe, of Dublin. 

" Not a drum was heard — not a funeral note — 
As his corse to the ramparts we hurried; 
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot 
O'er the grave where our hero was buried. 

" We buried him darkly, at dead of night, 
The sods with our bayonets turning, 
By the struggling moonbeams' misty light, 
And the lantern dimly burning. 



RESULT OF THE BATTLE. 97 

*• No useless coffin enclosed his breast, 

Nor in 6heet nor in shroud we wound him ; 
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, 
With his martial cloak around him. 

•* Few and short were the prayers we said, 
And we spoke not a word of sorrow; 
But we steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead, 
And bitterly thought of the morrow. 

" We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed, 
And smoothed down his lonely pillow, 
That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, 
And we far away on the billow. 

*' Lightly they '11 talk of the spirit that 's gone, 
And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him; 
But little he '11 reck, if they let him sleep on 
In the grave where a Briton has laid him. 

" But half of our heavy task was done, 

When the clock struck the hour for retiring* 
And we heard the distant and random gun 
Of the enemy, suddenly firing. 

" Slowly and sadly we laid him down, 

From the field of his fame, fresh and gory; 
We carved not a line — we raised not a stone — 
But we left him alone with his glory." 

The battle was continued until dark, under great 
disadvantages on the part of the French, owing to the 
difficulty they experienced in dragging their heavy 
cannon on to the heights, and their small amount of 
ammunition. The French loss has been estimated at 
three thousand, and the British at eight hundred ; 
but the loss of the French was undoubtedly exag- 
gerated. The English availed themselves of the 
darkness and the confusion among the enemy to 
embark their troops ; and so complete were the ar- 



98 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

rangements of Sir John Hope, who succeeded to the 
command, that it was all effected, without delay or 
difficulty, before morning. The wounded were pro- 
vided for, and the fleet, although fired upon by the 
French, sailed on the 17th for their home in Eng- 
land. 

But their trials were not yet closed. It was Sir John 
Moore's intention to have proceeded to Vigo, that he 
might restore order before he sailed for England , 
but the fleet went directly home from Corunna, and a 
terrible storm scattered it, many ships were wrecked, 
and the remainder, driving up the channel, were glad 
to put into any port. The soldiers thus thrown on 
shore were spread all over the country. Their hag- 
gard appearance, ragged clothing, and dirty accou- 
trements, struck a people only used to the daintiness 
of parade with surprise. A deadly fever, the result 
of anxiety and of the sudden change from fatigue to 
the confinement of a ship, filled the hospitals at 
every port with officers and soldiers, and the terrible 
state of the army was the all-absorbing topic of con- 
versation. 



CHAPTER III. 

Joseph Bonaparte again King of Spain. — His Difficulties with Soult. — ■ 
Second Siege of Saragossa. — Another English Army, under Sir Arthur 
Wellesley, lands at Lisbon. — Battle of Talavera. — The English retire 
into Portugal. — Siege of Gerona. — Principal Events of the Campaign 
of 1810. — The English Troops make a Stand at Torres Vedras. — 
Retreat of Massena. — Siege of Cadiz. — Escape of French Prisoners. — 
Opening of the Campaign of 1811. 

Having closed the history of this unfortunate army, 
let us now return to Spain. Joseph had returned, a 
nominal king, to Madrid. More than twenty-six 
thousand heads of families had come forward, of their 
own accord, and sworn, by the host, that they desired 
his presence amongst them. The marshals, under his 
directions, were pursuing the conquest of Spain with 
vigor. Though Joseph was nominally lieutenant- 
general, Soult was in reality at the ' head of opera- 
tions. A modern writer, speaking of these two 
commanders, says Soult was crippled in all his move- 
ments, his sound policy neglected, and his best com- 
binations thwarted, by Joseph. His operations in 
Andalusia and Estramaclura, and the firmness with 
which he resisted the avarice of Joseph, all exhibited 
his well-balanced character. In Andalusia he firmly 
held his ground, although hedged in with hostile 
armies, and surrounded by an insurgent population, 
while a wide territory bad to be covered with his 
troops. 



100 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

King Joseph could not comprehend the opera- 
tions of such a mind as Soult's, and constantly im- 
peded his success. When, without ruin to his army, 
the stubborn marshal could yield to his commands, 
he did ; but where the king's projects would plunge 
him into irredeemable errors, he openly and firmly 
withstood them. The anger and threats of Joseph 
were alike in vain. The inflexible old soldier pro- 
fessed his willingness to obey, but declared he would 
not, with his eyes open, commit a great military 
blunder. King Joseph would despatch loud and ve- 
hement complaints to Napoleon, but the emperor 
knew too well the ability of Soult to heed them. Had 
the latter been on the Spanish throne, the country 
would long before have been subdued, and the French 
power established. 

We shall not enter into detail of all the operations 
in Spain. A short account of some of the principal 
battles we will give ; and, as we have already de- 
tailed the first siege of Saragossa, our readers may 
perhaps like to know the final fate of this devoted 
city. We quote from Headley's description of the 
second siege. 

< ' The siege at Saragossa had been successively 
under the command of Moncey and Junot. The 
camp was filled with murmurs and complaints. For 
nearly a month they had environed the town in vain. 
Assault after assault had been made ; and from the 
2d of January, when Junot took the command, till 
the arrival of Lannes in the latter part of the month, 



SECOND SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA. 101 

every night had been distinguished by bloody fights ; 
and yet the city remained unconquered. Lannes 
paid no heed to the murmurs and complaints around 
him, but immediately, by the promptitude and en- 
ergy of his actions, infused courage into the hearts 
of the desponding soldiery. The decision he was 
always wont to cany into battle was soon visible in 
the siege. The soldiers poured to the assault with 
firmer purpose, and fought with more resolute cour- 
age. The apathy which had settled down on the 
army was dispelled. New life was given to every 
movement ; and on the 27th, amid the tolling of the 
tower-bell, warning the people to the defence, a 
grand assault was made, and, after a most sanguin- 
ary conflict, tin 1 Avails of the town were carried, and 
the French soldiers fortified themselves in the con- 
vent al St. Joseph's. Unyielding to the last, the 
brave Saragossans fought on, and, amid the pealing 
of the tocsin, rushed up to the very mouths of the 
cannons, and perished by hundreds and by thousands 
in the streets of the city. Every house was a fortress, 
and around its walls were separate battle-fields, 
where deeds of frantic valor were done. Day after 
day did these single-handed fights continue, while 
famine and pestilence walked the city at noonday, 
and slew faster than the swords of the enemy. The 
dead lay piled up in every street, and on the thick 
heaps of the slain the living mounted, and fought 
with the energy of despair for their homes and their 
liberty. In the midst of this incessant firing by 



102 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

night and by day, and hand to hand fights on the 
bodies of the slain, ever and anon a mine would 
explode, blowing the living and dead, friend and 
foe, together in the air. An awful silence would 
succeed for a moment, and then, over the groans of 
the dying, would ring again the rallying cry of the 
brave inhabitants. The streets ran torrents of blood, 
and the stench of putrefied bodies loaded the air. 
Thus, for three weeks, did the fight and butchery go 
on, within the city walls, till the soldiers grew dis- 
pirited and ready to give up the hope of spoils, if 
they could escape the ruin that encompassed them. 
Yet theirs was a comfortable lot to that of the be- 
sieged. Shut up in the cellars with the dead, 
pinched with famine, while the pestilence rioted 
without mercy and without resistance, they heard 
around them the incessant bursting of bombs, and 
thunder of artillery, and explosions of mines, and 
crash of falling houses, till the city shook, night and 
clay, as within the grasp of an earthquake. Thou- 
sands fell daily, and the town was a mass of ruins. 
Yet, unconquered and apparently unconquerable, the 
inhabitants struggled on. Out of the dens they had 
made for themselves among the ruins, and from the 
cellars where there were more dead than living, men 
would crawl to fight, who looked more like spectres 
than warriors. Women would work the guns, and, 
musket in hand, advance fearlessly to the charge ; 
and hundreds thus fell, fighting for their homes and 
their firesides. Amid this scene of devastation, — 



SECOND SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA. 103 

against this prolonged and almost hopeless struggle 
of weeks, — against the pestilence that had appeared 
in his own army, and was mowing down his own 
troops, — and, above all, against the increased mur- 
murs and now open clamors of the soldiers, declaring 
that the siege must be abandoned till reinforcements 
could come up, — Lannes remained unshaken and 
untiling. The incessant roar and crash around him, 
the fetid air, the exhausting toil, the carnage ami 
the pestilence, could not change his iron -will. He 
had decreed that Saragossa — which had heretofore 
baffled every attempt to take it — should fall. At 
length, by a vigorous attempt, he took the convent 
of St. Laran, in the suburbs of the town, and planted 
his artillery there, which soon levelled the city around 
it with the ground. To finish this work of destruc- 
tion by one grand blow, he caused six mines to be. 
run under the main street of the city, each of which 
was charged with three thousand pounds of powder. 
But before the time appointed for their explosion 
arrived, the town capitulated. The historians of this 
siege describe the appearance of the city and its 
inhabitants, after the surrender, as inconceivably hor- 
rible. With only a single wall between them and 
the enemy's trenches, they had endured a siege of 
nearly two months by forty thousand men, and con- 
tinued to resist after famine and pestilence began to 
slay faster than the enemy. Thirty thousand cannon- 
balls and sixty thousand bombs had fallen in the city, 
and fifty-four thousand of the inhabitants had per- 



104 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

ished. Six thousand only had fallen in combat, while 
forty-eight thousand had been the prey of the pesti- 
lence. After the town had capitulated, but twelve 
thousand were found able to bear arms, and they 
looked more like spectres issuing from the tomb than 
like living warriors. 

" Saragossa was taken ; but what a capture ! As 
Lannes rode through the streets at the head of his 
victorious army, he looked only on a heap of ruins, 
while six thousand unburied corpses lay in his path. 
Sixteen thousand lay sick, while on the living lim- 
ine had written more dreadful characters than death 
had traced on the fallen. Infants lay on the breasts 
of their dead mothers, striving in vain to draw life 
from bosoms that would never throb again. Attenu- 
ated forms, with haggard faces and sunken eyes and 
cheeks, wandered around among the dead to search 
for their friends; corpses, bloated with famine, lay 
stretched across the threshold of their dwellings, and 
strong-limbed men went staggering over the pave- 
ments, weak from want of food, or struck with the 
pestilence. Woe was in every street, and the silence 
in the dwellings was more eloquent than the loudest 
cries and groans. Death and famine and the pesti- 
lence had been there, in every variety of form and 
suffering. But the divine form of Liberty had been 
there too, walking amid those mountains of corpses 
and ruins of homes, shedding her light through the 
subterranean apartments of the wretched, and, with 
her cheering voice, animating the thrice-conquered, 



THE ENGLISH LAND AT LISBON. 105 

yet still unconcjuered, to another effort, and blessing 
the dying as they prayed for their beloved city. 
But she was at last compelled to take her departure, 
and the bravest city of modern Europe sunk in bond- 
age. Still her example lives, and shall live to the 
end of time, nerving the patriot to strike and suffer 
for his home and freedom, and teaching man every- 
where how to die in defending the right. A wreath 
of glory surrounds the brow of Saragossa, fadeless as 
the memory of her brave defenders. Before their 
achievements, — the moral grandeur of their firm 
struggle, and the depth and intensity of their suffer 
ings, — the bravery and perseverance of the French 
sink into forgetfulness. Yet theirs was no ordinary 
task, and it was by no ordinary means that it was 
executed." 

The English had by no means relinquished their 
designs upon the Peninsula. The successes of 
Napoleon and his victorious army but served to 
stimulate their hatred of the French, and spur them 
on to further efforts. Another army was accordingly 
collected, and placed under the command of Sir 
Arthur Wellesley, who landed in Lisbon on the 22d 
of April, 1809. The force under his command was 
fourteen thousand five hundred infantry, fifteen hun- 
dred cavalry, and twenty-four pieces of artillery. 
The passage of the river Dwero was his first contest 
with the French. In this he was successful, and his 
success opened to him the gates of Oporto. ' Soon 
after occurred the celebrated battle of Talavera. 



106 EUEOPE AOT3 THE ALLIES, 1809.' 

King Joseph was himself nominally at the head of 
his troops ; hut Marshal Victor was, in reality, the 
leader. "Victor and Soult had both laid their plans 
before the king, and urged them with all the elo- 
quence they were capable of. So sure was Victor 
of the victory, should his advice be followed, that he 
said that, if his plans should fail, all military science 
was useless. The event proved, however, that Soult 
was correct. 

"The morning dawned beautifully clear, but a 
July sun poured down its burning heat, until the sol- 
diers were glad to seek shelter from its rays in the 
quiet shade. Between the camps of the two armies 
flowed a little murmuring rivulet, and, as the French 
and English met there to slake their thirst, pleasant 
words passed between them. Familiar conversation, 
the light laugh and the gay jest, were heard on every 
side. But, about one o'clock, the deep rolling of 
drums along the French lines announced to the allies 
that the hour had come when those who had met to 
slake their thirst in those quiet waters were soon to 
mingle to quell in blood their thirst for strife. They, 
too, prepared for combat ; and, when the loud boom- 
ing of the guns gave the signal that the battle was 
commenced, eighty cannon opened their destructive 
fire, and the light troops went sweeping onward 
with the rapidity of a thunder-cloud over the heavens, 
while the deep, dark columns marched sternly after, 
and charged, with terrible strength, the English lines. 
Then all along their fronts the deep-mouthed guns 



BATTLE OF TALAVERA. 107 

opened their well-directed fire, and the infantry 
responded to the furious attack with their rapid 
volleys, as they closed around the head of the advanc- 
ing columns, enveloping them in one sheet of flame, 
that streamed like billows along their sides. It was 
too much for human courage to endure ; and, after 
bravely breasting the storm, they were obliged to mil 
back in disorder. 

" After various successes and reverses, the French 
seemed about to gain the day. The English centre was 
broken, and Victor's columns marching triumphantly 
through it. Just at this juncture, when the English 
were scattering on every side, Colonel Donellan, 
anxious to save the honor of his army, was seen 
advancing through the disordered masses, at the head 
of the 48th regiment. The retiring masses on every 
side pressed hard against these brave soldiers, and it 
seemed, at first, as though they must be carried away 
by them; but, wheeling back by companies, they 
opened to let the fugitives pass, and then, pursuing 
their proud and beautiful line, they marched straight 
upon the pursuing columns on the right side, and 
poured their rapid fire into the dense ranks. Closing 
on the foe with steadiness and- firmness, these few 
soldiers arrested the progress of the entire mass. 
Then their artillery opened its fire upon them, and 
the cavalry rallied, and rode round to charge their 
flanks ; and, after a short and earnest warfare, the 
tide of success turned, and victory, which seemed a 
moment before in the hands of the French, was 
10 



108 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

wrested from their grasp, amid the loud shouts and 
earnest cheerings of the British. Their troops retired 
m good order to their former position, and at six 
o'clock the battle had closed. And now, as both 
parties were preparing to remove their wounded, and 
pay the last sad duties to the dead, one of those ter- 
rible events occurred which sometimes come to shock 
the human soul, and overrun a cup of misery already 
fall. Hardly had the last troops withdrawn from the 
scene of contest, when the long dry grass took fire, 
and one broad flame swept furiously over the field, 
wrapping the dead and wounded together in its fiery 
mantle. The shrieks of the scorched and writhing 
victims, that struggled up through the thick folds of 
smoke that rolled darkly over them, were far more 
appalling than the uproar of battle, and carried con- 
sternation to every heart that heard. Two thousand 
men were killed on both sides, and eight thousand 
wounded."* 

Soon after, the army effected a junction with Soult, 
and Sir Arthur Wellesley was obliged to retreat. 
He obtained, however, a promise from the Spanish 
general that the English wounded should be removed 
from the hospitals of Talavera to some other place. 
But this promise, like too many others, was shame- 
fully violated; and he left the place, abandoning 
them all to the mercy of the enemy. When Victor 
entered the town, he found the public square covered 
with the sick and maimed of both armies, scattered 

* Headley. 



THE ENGLISH RETIRE INTO PORTUGAL. 109 

around on the pavement, without any one to care for 
them. He immediately sent his soldiers into the 
houses, commanding the inhabitants to receive the 
wounded sufferers. He ordered that one English 
and one French soldier should be lodged together, — 
thus softening the asperities of war, and setting an 
example to his foes which they would have done 
well to follow. If the Spanish had refused to care 
for the sick and wounded of their allies, they showed 
scarcely more consideration for the men on whose 
success their own safety depended. They refused to 
supply them with provisions. The soldiers were 
weakened by hunger, and the sick dying for want of 
necessary succor. Half a pound of wheat in the grain , 
and, twice a week, a few ounces of flour, with a quar- 
ter of a pound of goat's flesh, formed the sole sub- 
sistence of men and officers. The goats were caught 
and killed by the troops; and it was so difficult to 
procure even these, that the mere offal of a goat 
would bring three or four dollars. Sir Arthur's warm 
remonstrances to the Spanish junta were answered 
only by promises. The soldiers were murmuring at 
their bad treatment ; and, when pestilence broke out 
in the army, and five thousand men died in their 
hospitals, Wellesley, deeming it useless to struggle 
longer against the force of circumstances, judged it 
best again to evacuate Spain, and withdraw his troops 
into Portugal. However lightly the English had, in 
anticipation, regarded the bravery of the French 
troops, experience — that stern and truthful monitor 



110 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

— had taught them that they were an enemy not to be 
despised, and that Soult, their chief commander, was 
as skilful, and, as a tactician, fully equal to Welling- 
ton. Many English writers, in speaking of Welling- 
ton, have drawn a parallel between him and Napoleon, 
because he was commander-in-chief when the battle 
of Waterloo was won. Yet this long struggle between 
the English general and Soult, in Spain, in which he 
was as often defeated as conqueror, shows conclu- 
sively that the French and English commanders were 
well matched, — that there was little to choose 
between them; and who would think, even for a 
moment, of instituting a comparison of equality be- 
tween Napoleon and Soult ? 

We cannot follow the Spaniards, in all their oper- 
ations, after the English forces had been withdrawn ; 
marked, as they often were, by want of courage, and 
oftener by want of skill and foresight in their arrange- 
ments. The Partida warfare was now instituted, and 
many of the French troops were cut off in this way ; 
yet the system was a decided injury to Spain. The 
heroic defence of Saragossa, already recorded, and 
the almost equally courageous one of Gerona, rise as 
bright spots on the dark page of Spanish history, and 
are well worthy of a name and place in this history. 
Most of the siege of Gerona we shall take the liberty 
to extract from Tucker's Life of Wellington. 

Gerona is a city of Catalonia, situate on the little 
river Onar. It is protected by four forts, upon the 
high ground above it. Its principal defence, how- 



SIEGE OF GERONA. Ill 

ever, was the citadel, called the Monjuie. This is a 
square fort, two hundred and forty yards in length 
on each side, with four bastions. The garrisons con- 
sisted of three thousand four hundred men, com- 
manded by Mariano Alvarez, — a man at once noble, 
brave, and humane. Alvarez, who knew that he 
could place small dependence on reinforcements from 
without, gave every encouragement to the feelings 
of the citizens to defend their town to the last ex- 
tremity. For this purpose, he formed them into 
eight companies of one hundred men each. Nor was 
the enthusiasm of the defence shared alone by the 
men. Maids and matrons also enrolled themselves 
in an association, which they termed the Company 
of St. Barbara, to perform whatever lay in their 
power. Alvarez knew full well the power which 
superstition would exert on the minds of the bigoted 
Spaniards. He, therefore, invested St. Narcis, the 
patron saint of the Geronans, with the insignia of 
generalissimo of all their forces, by land and by sea. 
This was done on the Sabbath ; and the shrine of the 
saint was opened, and a general's staff, a sword and 
richly- ornamented belt, were deposited with his holy 
relics. Such was the joy and excitement of the 
Spaniards, that one of their writers says, " It seemed 
as if the glory of the Lord had descended and filled 
the church, manifesting that their devotion was ap- 
proved and blessed by heaven." 

A proclamation was also issued by Alvarez, for- 
bidding all persons, of whatever rank, from speaking 
10* 



112 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

of capitulation, on pain of immediate death. This 
was received, both by the garrison and people, with 
acclamation. 

The city was closely invested by eighteen thou- 
sand French, under the command of General Ver- 
dier, on the 6th of May, on the heights of Casa Roca, 
where they erected a battery of eleven mortars, and 
began to form their first line of circumvallation. The 
garrison was too weak to make a sally, or otherwise 
prevent them. A flag of truce was sent, with the 
conditions on which the French would leave the city ; 
but the only reply it drew forth was, that the Gero- 
nans would hold no communication with the French, 
but at the cannon's mouth. At one o'clock on the 
morning of June 14th, the bombardment commenced. 
As soon as the first shell struck, the loud tones of the 
generate resounded through the streets, and every one 
flew to his post. The female Company of St. Bar- 
bara, so far from shrinking from danger, sought 
everywhere those spots where most* was anticipated. 
What bravery or daring could do was done ; yet two 
castles were yielded up, after a brave but vain resist- 
ance. Palamas was also carried by assault. Very 
few of the garrison escaped, and those only by throw- 
ing themselves into the sea. In July, three batteries 
kept up an incessant fire upon three sides of the 
Monjuie. By one of these discharges the angle on 
which the Spanish flag was planted was cut off, and 
the flag prostrated into the ditch below. In an in- 
stant, a man was lowered down from the walls to 



SIEGE OF GERONA. 113 

regain it. Balls fell like hail around him ; yet, 
apparently unmindful of the dangers to which he 
was exposed, he calmly descended, and, having 
recovered the prostrate banner, returned to his com- 
rades unhurt, and again hoisted it on the walls. 

A breach was now made in the walls so wide that 
forty men might enter abreast. The works pro- 
gressed with more rapidity, as the fire of the besieged 
had entirely ceased. It was not that Gerona was 
conquered, but, finding that their ammunition was 
growing short, they prudently reserved it until the 
nearer approach of the enemy should make it more 
efficient. On the morning of the 8th, about three 
o'clock, the French, under cover of a most tremen- 
dous bombardment, again assaulted the city. Six 
thousand men marched up to the breach, and endeav- 
ored to rush through; but, concealed there in the 
rains of the ravelin, lay a mortar, which discharged 
five hundred musket-balls every shot. As they 
advanced, it was turned upon them, and their way 
was soon impeded by the slain. Three times during 
that day the assault was repeated, with the utmost 
resolution, by the assailants ; and three times were 
they obliged to retire before the heroic defenders of 
Gerona, leaving sixteen hundred men lifeless on the 
field of battle. But the effect of that dreadful 
attack was severely felt by the besieged. The tower 
of St. Juan had been blown up, and only twenty- 
three of its brave little garrison remained alive. 

An instance of extraordinary heroism, in a youth- 



114 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

ful drummer, which occurred during the assault, de- 
serves to be recorded. His name was Luciana Ancio, 
and he belonged to the artillery. He was stationed 
to give the alarm, when a shell was thrown. A ball 
struck his leg off to the knee, and felled him to the 
ground. Some women, who saw him fall, hastened 
to remove him to a place of greater safety ; but he 
refused, saying, " No, no ! my arms are left, and I 
can still beat the drum to give my comrades warn- 
ing in time to save themselves." Heaven seemed 
to smile upon his bravery ; for he alone, of all those 
who suffered an amputation of the thigh during the 
siege, recovered. 

The Company of St. Barbara were everywhere to 
be seen, covered with dust and blood, under the 
burning heat of a July sun. Those courageous 
women, through an incessant fire of the batteries and 
the musketry, carried water and wine to the soldiers, 
and bore back the wounded. Every day produced 
acts of heroism equally conspicuous, for the attack 
continued with unabated force. The sharp-shooters 
of the enemy were stationed thickly in the trenches ; 
and so fatal was their aim, that for any of the gar- 
rison to be seen, only for a moment, was certain 
death. And, although the sentinels were changed 
every half-hour, nine were killed, in one day, at one 
post ; and, after this, it was only possible to observe 
what the enemy were about, by some one in the force 
lifting up his head, and taking a momentary glance. 

Early in August, the besiegers had pushed theil 



SIEGE OF GERONA. 115 

parallels to the very edge of the fosse ; but here their 
efforts were delayed, because the nature of the soil 
obliged them to bring earth from some distance to 
finish their works. About this time, Castellar de la 
Silva, at the head of fifteen hundred men, attempted 
to throw supplies into the city ; but no precautions 
could escape the watchful eye of the besiegers. The 
convoy was seized, and only five hundred men, of the 
fifteen hundred who defended it, lived to tell the 
tale. 

The main attacks of the besiegers were now 
directed against the ravelin, which had become the 
chief defence of Monjuie. Attempts were made, 
night after night, to storm it ; but in vain. It was 
mined, but, as the breastwork was wholly of earth, 
the explosion did no injury. A battery was planted 
against it, and a sally was made by the besieged, 
hoping to destroy it. This attack was headed by a 
priest. He was fired upon, and fell. One of the 
French officers, at the risk of his own life, protected 
him from farther injury. But his humanity cost him 
his life. One of the Spaniards, mistaking his ob- 
ject, cut him down. The guns of the battery were 
spiked ; but this brave attack was of little use, 
for the French were well supplied with artillery, and 
fresh guns were soon mounted, and played upon the 
gate and ravelin. 

For thirty-seven days had this fierce conflict been 
sustained. The numbers of the besieged were greatly 
reduced ; the hospitals were filled to overflowing, 



116 EUEOPE AKD THE ALLIES, 1809. 

and pestilence, with all its horrors, spread unchecked, 
on every side. Yet this was not all. Grim, gaunt 
famine was among them, and began to be severely 
felt. Of all their stores, only some wheat and a 
little flour remained. Still, there was no thought of 
capitulation, although every day diminished their 
little stock. On the 19th of September, another 
general assault was made, and as bravely met. " Fre- 
quently," says Southey, " such was the press of con- 
flict, and such the passion that inspired them, that, 
impatient of the time required for reloading their 
muskets, the defendants caught up stones from the 
breach, and hurled upon their enemies these readier 
weapons. Four times the assault was repeated in 
the course of two hours, and at every point the ene- 
my was beaten off. The noble Alvarez, during the 
whole assault, hastened from post to post, wherever 
he was most needed, providing everything, directing 
all, and encouraging all. Eight hundred of the be- 
siegers fell, on this memorable day. A glorious suc- 
cess had been gained, yet it brought with it no rest, 
— no respite, — scarcely a prolongation of hope. 
There was no wine to cheer the wearied soldiery, 
when they returned from the assault — not even 
bread. A scanty mess of pulse, or corn, with a little 
oil, or morsel of bacon, in its stead, was all that could 
be served out ; and even this was the gift of fami- 
lies, who shared with the soldiers their little stores. 
" What matters it?" was the answer of these heroes 
to the lament of the inhabitants that they had nothing 



SIEGE OF GERONA. 117 

better to give ; "if the food fail, the joy of having 
saved Gerona will give us strength to go on." Every 
day, every hour, added to the distress of the besieged. 
Their flour was exhausted, and, for want of other ani- 
mal food, mules and horses were slaughtered, and sent 
to the shambles. A list w T as made of all within the 
city, and they were taken by lot. Fuel became ex- 
ceedingly scarce ; yet such was the patriotism of the 
people, that the heaps placed at the corners of the 
streets, to illuminate them in case of danger, re- 
mained untouched. A glimmering of hope still 
remained that the city might be supplied with pro- 
visions by the army of Blake ; but even this faint 
hope was cut off when Marshal Augereau superseded 
St. Cyr in the control of the siege, — for his first act 
was to take possession of Haslatrich, at which place 
Blake had stored the greater part of his magazines. 
Augereau sent letters to the city threatening an in- 
crease of horrors in case the siege was prolonged, 
and offering them an armistice of a month, with pro- 
visions for that time, if Alvarez would then capitu- 
late ; but these terms were rejected with scorn. 
Hitherto, the few animals which had remained had 
been led out to feed near the burying-ground ; but 
this was no longer possible, and the wretched animals 
gnawed the hair from each other's bodies. The stores 
of the citizens were now exhausted, and the food for 
the hospitals was sometimes seized on the way, by 
the famishing populace. Provisions were prepared in 
the French camp, and held out to the garrison as a 



118 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1809. 

temptation to desert ; and yet, during the whole 
siege, only ten so deserted. 

At length, human nature could endure no more. 
The chief surgeon presented to Alvarez a report on 
the state of the city. It was, indeed, a fearful one. 
It stated that "not a single house remained in a habit- 
able state" in Gerona. The people slept in cellars, and 
vaults, and holes, amid the ruins ; and the wounded 
were often killed in the hospital by the enemy's fire. 
The streets were broken up, so that the rain-water and 
sewers had stagnated, and their pestilential breath 
was rendered more noxious by the dead bodies which 
lay perishing in the ruins. The incessant thunder of 
artillery had affected the atmosphere, and vegetation 
had stopped. The fruit withered on the trees, and 
nothing would grow. Within the last three days, 
says the report, five hundred of the garrison alone 
have died in the hospitals, and the pestilence is still 
raging unchecked. " If, by these sacrifices," say its 
authors, in conclusion, "deserving forever to be the 
admiration of history, — and if, by consummating them 
with the lives of us, who, by the will of Providence, 
have survived our comrades, — the liberty of our coun- 
try can be secured, happy shall we be, in the bosom 
of eternity, and in the memory of all good men, and 
happy will be our children among their fellow-coun- 
trymen." 

Alvarez himself could do no more. Yet would he 
not yield to the enemy ; but, being seized with a delir- 
ious fever, his successor in command yielded the city 



THE ENGLISH AT TORRES VEDRAS. 11D 

on honorable terms, on the 10th of December, the 
siege having lasted seven months. Alvarez died 
soon after, and the central junta awarded honors and 
titles to his family, and exempted the whole city 
from taxation. 

The surrender of this devoted city closed the cam- 
paign for 1809. The principal events of the cam- 
paign of 1810 were the battle of Busaco, in which 
the English gained the victory, and the retreat of the 
French Marshal Massena. For four months and a 
half, Massena had continually followed the retreating 
forces of Wellington, until now he had retired beyond 
the lines of Torres Vedras. The English had been 
engaged on these linos a year, until they had at last 
rendered them almost impregnable. They consisted 
of three lines of intrenchments, one within another, 
extending for nearly thirty miles. On these lines 
were a hundred and fifty redoubts, and six hundred 
mounted cannon. Here Massena saw his enemy 
retire within these lines, and he then knew that his 
utmost efforts to dislodge him must prove abortive 
Besides, Wellington here received reinforcements to 
his army, which increased it to one hundred and 
thirty thousand men. 

Besides these defences, there were twenty British 
ships of the line, and a hundred transports, ready to 
receive the army, if forced to retire. Unwilling to 
retreat, Massena sat down with his army here, hoping 
to draw Wellington to an open battle. But he pre- 
ferred waiting for an attack upon his intrenchments, 
11 



120 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES', 1810. 

or to starve the enemy into a retreat. This he knew 
must soon be done. Wellington himself declares 
that Massena provisioned his sixty thousand men and 
twenty thousand horses, for two months, where he 
could not have maintained a single division of Eng- 
lish soldiers. But his army was now reduced to 
starvation ; and he, driven to the last extremity, saw 
that he must either commence his retreat at once, or 
his famine-stricken army would be too weak to march. 
Arranging his troops into a compact mass, he placed 
the rear guard under the command of Ney, and re- 
tired from the Torres Yedras. Wellington imme- 
diately commenced the pursuit ; but, owing to the 
skilful arrangements of the French marshal, he 
found it impossible to attack him with success. 
Taking advantage of every favorable position, he 
would make a stand, and wait until the main body of 
the army had passed on, and then would himself fall 
back. Thus, for more than four months, did this 
retreat continue, until he arrived at the confines 
of Portugal, having lost more than one-third of 
his army. Many were the cruelties practised on 
this retreat. They have often been described, and 
form a dark spot on the English historian's page. 
All war is necessarily cruel ; and the desolation and 
barrenness that followed in the track of the French 
army, wasting the inhabitants by famine, were a pow- 
erful check on Wellington in his pursuit. The track 
of a retreating and starving army must always be 
covered with woe ; and one might as well complain 



ESCAPE OF FRENCH PRISONERS. 121 

of the cruelty of a besieging force, because innocent 
women and children die by hunger. 

The siege of Cadiz occupied the spring and sum- 
mer of this year. During this siege, a tremendous 
tempest ravaged the Spanish coast, lasting four days 
By it more than forty sail of merchantmen, besides 
three line-of-battle ships, were driven on shore, it 
was during this tempest that the French and Swiss 
on board the prison-ships in the harbor made their 
escape. " The storm was so great," writes one of 
the unhappy captives, "that we could not receive 
our supply of provision from the shore. Our signals 
of distress were wholly disregarded by the Spanish 
authorities ; and, had it not been for the humanity 
of the British admiral, who sent his boats to their 
relief, many more of our miserable men must have 
perished. The pontoons in which these prisoners 
were confined were not properly secured ; and the 
prisoners on board the Castilla, seeing that the wind 
and tide were in their favor, cut the cable, and, hoist- 
ing a sail which they had made from their hammocks, 
steered for the opposite coast. They were seven 
hundred in number, and most of them officers. Enr?- 
lish boats were sent against them, but they found the 
French were prepared. The ballast of the vess 
which they were confined was cannon-balls of twenty- 
four and thirty-six pounds' weight. These the French 
hurled by hand into the boats of their pursuers, and 
soon disabled them, so that the fugitives finally suc- 
ceeded in escaping with but little loss. 



122 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

The first two months of the year 1811 were most 
inauspicious for the Spanish cause. General Suchet 
possessed himself of Tortosa, and on the 23d of the 
same month Soult became master of Olivenza. On 
the same day died the Marquis de la Romana, one of 
the most skilful and noblest of the Spanish leaders ; 
and he had scarcely expired, before his army met 
with a signal defeat at Gebora. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Author, with his Regiment, leaves Gibraltar, for Tarifa. — Dissensions 
between the Spanish and English Officers. — Battle of Barossa. — Retreat 
of the French. — Suffering of the Pursuing Army. — Guerillas. — Don 
Julian Sanchez. — Juan Martin Diaz. — Xavier Mina. — Continued Pri- 
vations of the British Army. — Adventures of the Author in Search of 
Food. — Arrival of the Commissariat with Provisions. — Extravagant 
Joy of the Troops. — Departure of the British Army for Badajos. 

Having given to my readers some slight sketches 
of the rise and progress of this war previous to the 
time when I first became an active participator in its 
scenes, I shall now continue it, with the history of 
my own adventures. 

In looking back through the long series of years 
that have elapsed since those eventful days, there are 
few scenes that I can recall more vividly than that 
which occurred on the mornine; I left Gibraltar. It 
was my first experience of the kind, and, therefore, 
made a deeper impression than many after scenes, 
which might have been far more worthy of record 
than this. It was a beautiful morning, and every- 
where the troops were in motion. Horses were 
brought out, our baggage prepared and sent on; the 
light jest and laugh and joke went freely round, serv- 
ing, in many instances, to conceal the thoughts that 
longed for utterance. Farewells were exchanged, 
last words spoken ; and, finally, all were prepared, 
the word given, and our gallant little army marched 
IP 



124 EUKOPE ATSTD THE ALLIES, 1811. 

• 

out of Gibraltar. It was truly a brilliant sight ; and 
the lively strains of our music contributed its share 
to make us forget that we were marching into a 
country at all times perilous, and now doubly so, to 
meet certain clangers, and, many of us, certain death. 
Yet these were in the future, and lost beneath the 
crowd of bright and joyous anticipations that kindled 
in our hearts as the last loud cheering of our com- 
rades died away, and the walls of the far-famed city 
receded in the distance behind our onward march. 
Our course was directed to Tarifa ; here we had 
orders to wait until the forces from Cadiz should 
come up. An expedition had been sent out from 
this city, consisting of ten thousand men, three thou- 
sand of whom were British, whose object was to drive 
the French general out of his lines. Victor, having 
heard of tins project, enlarged and strengthened his 
own forces, which now amounted to about twenty 
thousand men, in Andalusia. 

The allied army sailed from Cadiz on the 20th of 
February, for Tarifa ; but, a storm arising soon after 
they left, they were driven past this port, and disem- 
barked at Algesiras. They marched to Tarifa on the 
23d, under the command of General Thomas Graham. 
Here we met; and, as we were more recently from 
home than these troops, we had many questions to 
answer, and much information both to give and 
receive. Before night, however, we had all our 
places assigned to us, and were now ready for our 
march. But the Spanish General La Pena had not 



THE ALLIED ARMY. 125 

yet arrived ; and so we remained encamped here until 
the 27th, when he came up, with his forces; and to 
him General Graham, for the sake of unanimity, ceded 
the chief command. All day we were busy in pre- 
parations for our morrow's march, expecting at its 
close to come within a short distance of the enemy's 
outposts. Early the next morning, our whole army 
was in motion. We moved forward about twelve 
miles, over the mountain ridges that descend from 
Ronda to the sea ; and then, having learned that the 
enemy were only four leagues distance, we halted, 
for the purpose of reorganizing the army. The com- 
mand of the vanguard was given to Lardizabal, that 
of the centre to the Prince of Anglona, while General 
Graham had charge of the reserve, consisting of two 
Spanish regiments and the British troops. The cav- 
alry of both nations, formed in one body, was com- 
manded by Colonel Whittingham. The French army 
were encamped near Chiclana, narrowdy observing 
the movements of the allied armies, and determined, 
at all events, to hold complete possession of the 
country. 

The next day, March 2d, the vanguard of our 
army stormed Casa Viejas. Having gained this small 
place, and stationed here a regiment, we continued 
our march on the 3d and 4th. 

Early in the morning of the 5th, as the advanced 
guards of our cavalry had proceeded a short distance 
from the main army, they suddenly came upon a 
squadron of French troops. Unfortunately for them, 



1 26 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

several stone fences and enclosures prevented an 
immediate attack, so that the French had time to 
form into a square, and received their charge with 
great coolness and intrepidity. Their square was 
unbroken, although numbers had fallen on both sides. 
A second charge was equally unsuccessful, and the 
colonel of our cavalry was mortally wounded. Our 
men then judged it most prudent to fall back upon 
the main army, and no attempt was made to follow 
them by the enemy. An anxious look-out was insti- 
tuted, but the foe did not again make his appearance, 
and at nine o'clock the same morning our commander 
took up his position on the heights of Barossa. 

The hill of Barossa is a low ridge, creeping in from 
the coast about a mile and a half, and overlooking a 
high broken plain. On one side of this plain rise the 
huge coast cliffs, while the other is skirted by the 
deep forest of Chiclana. Directly in front, there lies 
a light pine wood, beyond which rises a long narrow 
height, called the Bermeja. There were two ways 
by which this might be reached ; the first was through 
the woods, while the second was a narrow road 
directly under the coast cliffs. 

I have already alluded to the fact, that, although 
the English and Spanish were fighting under the 
same banner, there was a great want of unanimity of 
feeling and opinion as to the course which ought to 
be pursued in ridding their country of their common 
foe. Nowhere, in the history of the war, was this 
more apparent than at the battle whose history I am 



DISSENSIONS. 127 

about to relate. The deep-seated pride of the Span- 
ish made them unwilling to acknowledge or yield to 
the superiority of the British, or hardly to allow that 
they were at all indebted to them. A modern trav- 
eller tells us that, in a recent history of this war, 
which was, not long since, published in Spain, the 
British are not even mentioned, nor the fact of their 
assistance at all alluded to. It was impossible for 
two nations so unlike in their customs and manners, 
so different in language, religion, and education, to 
be so closely associated together as they were obliged 
to be, without occasions of dispute constantly occur- 
ring, which would, probably, have terminated in open 
rupture, had not the discipline of war prevented. 

The fact that our gallant general had ceded the 
chief command to the weak and imperious Spanish 
commander had occasioned no little dissatisfaction 
among our men; while, from the conditions required 
of him by Graham, we may judge that that general 
himself did not pursue this course because he judged 
La Pena his superior in military tactics. These 
conditions were, that his army should make short 
marches; that they should be kept fresh for battle, 
and that they should never approach the enemy 
except in concentrated masses. Although the Span- 
ish general had pledged his word of honor that 
these conditions should be fulfilled, how much atten- 
tion he paid to them may be judged from the met, 
that, on the day but one preceding this, we had 
marched fifteen hours, through bad roads ; and, aftef 



128 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

a short rest, had occupied the whole night in our 
march to Barossa. Before the troops had all arrived, 
or had any time for rest or refreshment, La Pena 
commanded the vanguard to march against San Petri, 
which lay about four miles distant. A detachment 
of the Spanish army, under Zayas, had, only two days 
before, commenced an intrenchment at this point; 
but had been surprised by the French, and driven 
back, so that the enemy now held possession of all 
the outposts down to the sea. Bat a short time had 
elapsed, after the departure of the vanguard, when 
we were startled by the roar of the artillery, whose 
rapid discharge, together with the quick volleys of 
musketry, showed us that a sharp engagement had 
already taken plac e . Lardizabal , — far more worthy 
of command than his superior, — notwithstanding the 
unfavorable situation in which he found himself 
placed, succeeded in forcing his way through the 
enemy's troops, leaving three hundred men dead on 
the field of battle, and in effecting a junction with 
Zayas. Graham now endeavored to persuade La 
Pena to occupy the heights of Barossa, as a superior 
position to the Bermeja. The Spanish general not 
only refused to listen to his representations, but sent 
an immediate order to General Graham to march 
through the wood to Bermeja with all the British 
troops. This order he obeyed, although it was in 
opposition to his own better judgment, leaving only 
two detachments at Barossa, under Major Brown, to 
guard the baggage. He would have left a stronger 



victor's attack. 131 

force, had lie not supposed that La Perm would remain 
in his present position, with his own troops, and 
would thus assist those detachments, in ease of an 
attack. But scarcely had the British entered the 
wood, when La Pcna, without the least notice to his 
colleague, with his whole army, took the sea road 
under the cliffs, and marched to San Petri, leaving 
Barossa crowded with baggage, within sight of the 
enemy, and guarded only by four guns and five 
battalions. 

No sooner did Victor, the French general, obsfrve 
its defenceless state, than he advanced with a rapid 
pace, and, ascending behind the hill, drove off the 
guard, and took possession of the whole stores and 
provisions of our army. Major Brown, finding his 
force wholly inadequate to face the enemy, slowly 
withdrew, having immediately despatched an aid-de- 
camp to inform General Graham of the attack. Our 
army had then nearly reached the Bermeja ; but, as 
soon as the messenger arrived with the news, our 
general saw at once the necessity of taking the 
direction of affairs himself. Orders were immediately 
given to retrace our steps as rapidly as possible, that 
we might assist the Spanish army in its defence. 
Judge, then, of the astonishment of our general, on 
reaching the plain, at the view that presented itself! 
One side of the heights was occupied by the French, 
while the Spanish rear-guard was flying, with their 
baggage, in great confusion, on the other. On one 
side of us lay the cavalry of the French, and, on the 
12 



132 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

other marching to the attack was a large body of 
troops, under Laval. "Where is La Pena ? " was the 
first exclamation of our commander, as, casting his 
eye rapidly around, he could nowhere see the least 
trace of him. It was impossible that he could have 
been defeated. The cannonade would have been 
heard, or at least some fugitives have taken the 
direction of our army. Slowly the conviction forced 
itself upon his mind that he had been deserted. A 
general burst of indignation ran along our lines ; but 
short time was allowed for feelings like- these. Only 
one alternative existed, — a hasty retreat, or an 
immediate attack. It need hardly be said that 
Graham chose the latter. 

Ten guns immediately opened their fire upon 
Laval's troops, and were promptly answered back by 
the artillery of the French. No time was given to 
the British to form with any attention to regiments ; 
but, hastily dividing themselves into two masses, they 
rushed to the attack. The charge on the left was, 
indeed, a furious one, for we felt that conquest or 
death was the alternative. It was bravely met, 
however, on the part of the French. After the first 
discharge of artillery, the soldiers pressed rapidly 
onward, and were soon mingled with the foe in fierce 
and deadly conflict. The front ranks of the French 
were pressed back upon the second line, which, un- 
able to withstand the shock, was broken in the same 
manner, and scattered in much confusion, only the 
chosen battalion remaining to cover the retreat. 



BATTLE OF BAROSSA. 133 

Ruffin, who commanded the enemy on the right,, 
had stationed his troops just Avithin the wood, where 
they awaited, in perfect order, the division under 
Brown, who rushed with headlong haste to the con- 
test. When they had nearly reached the wood, they 
discharged their musketry. Nearly half of Brown's 
detachment fell at the first fire ; yet, nothing daunted, 
the remainder maintained their ground, until another 
detachment came to their aid. Then, mingling close 
in the dreadful combat, they pressed together to the 
brow of the hill, without either party gaining a 
decided advantage. Here the contest continued, 
with more bravery than before. The issue still re- 
mained quite doubtful, when the British, retiring a 
short distance, again rushed to the attack. RufBn 
and Rousseau, the French leaders, both fell, mortally 
wounded, and the French were obliged to retire, 
leaving three of their guns in possession of their 
enemies. Discomfited but not disheartened, they 
withdrew again, re-formed, and rushed to the attack. 
But they found no slumbering foe. Our guns were 
well manned. Their fire was reserved until the 
enemy were close at hand, and then they were 
allowed to tell upon that living mass. The execu- 
tion was terrible. Closely and rapidly, discharge 
followed discharge. Again and again were they 
summoned to the attack ; but the lines had hardly 
closed over their dying comrades, when another 
volley would again send confusion and death among 
the advancing ranks. Victor saw it was useless to 



134 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

struggle longer. The trumpet sounded, the contest 
stopped, and in less than an hour the English were 
again undisputed masters of Barossa. 

And where, during this conflict, were the Spanish 
troops, in whose cause the British were so freely- 
lavishing, not only treasure, but their own lives? 
Scarcely three miles away, the report of every round 
of musketry reached La Pena's ears. He knew that 
his ally was placed under great disadvantages ; yet 
he could look idly on, not knowing, scarcely caring, 
apparently, how the contest should be decided. In 
vain did many of his brave troops mount their 
chargers, and wait only for the word of command to 
rush upon the enemy. He listened neither to the 
voice of honor nor to the entreaties of his officers, 
nor to the ill-repressed murmurings of the soldiery. 
No stroke in aid of the British was struck by a 
Spanish sabre that day ; although one or two 
regiments, unable longer to contain their indignation, 
left without orders, and came up in season to witness 
the defeat of the French. And thus terminated the 
attack on Barossa. Scarcely two hours had passed 
from the first alarm before the French were retreat- 
ing beyond our reach, for our troops were too much 
exhausted by their twenty-two hours' march, and 
their still longer fast, to think of pursuing. Yet, 
short as the conflict was, the terrible evidences of its 
fatality lay all around us. Fifty officers, sixty 
sergeants, and more than eleven hundred British 
soldiers, had fallen, while two thousand of the enemy 



THE FIELD OF VICTORY. 135 

were either killed or wounded. Six guns, an eagle, 
two generals mortally wounded, and four hundred 
prisoners, fell into the power of the English. La 
Pena's conduct during this battle was complained of 
by our commander, and the Spanish cortes went 
through the forms of arresting him ; but he was soon 
after released, without investigation, and published 
what he called his justification, in which he blamed 
Graham severely for his disobedience of orders. 

When the last of the enemy had disappeared in 
the distance, the troops were all summoned to the 
field of battle. We collected there, and gazed 
around with saddened hearts. Four hours ago, and 
there was not one, of all that now lay lifeless on that 
bloody field, whose heart did not beat as high as our 
own, whose hopes were not as brilliant ; and yet, 
their sun had now set forever! I know of no sadder 
scene than a field of battle presents soon after the 
conflict, even though the glorious result may have 
filled our hearts with joy. When the roll is called, 
and name after name uttered without response, it 
cannot but awaken the deepest sensibility in the 
heart of the survivors. And then the hasty burial 
of the dead, and the hurried sending off the 
wounded, the surgeon's necessary operations, and the 
groans of the sufferers, all make us feel that these 
are the horrors of war. Before the battle is the 
rapid marching and counter-marching, and the en- 
livening strains of martial music, the encouraging 
words of the officers, — more than all, the excitement 
12* 



136 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

which must exist in such a scene, — and all these serve 
to elevate and sustain the spirits. During the con- 
test the excitement increases, until all sense of fear 
and danger is lost. But one thing is seen — the foe ; 
— but one object exists — to conquer. When all 
these have passed away, and there is no longer aught 
to excite, then the eye opens on stern and dread 
reality, and we realize what we have escaped, and 
the pain and suffering ever attendant on such scenes. 
There is something awfully trying to the soul, when 
the last sad rites are being performed for those so 
lately buoyant in life and health, — especially when 
we meet with the corpses of those we have known 
and loved. I have seen many affecting instances of 
such recognitions. Among others that I might 
name, is that of a French captain of dragoons, who 
came over after the battle with a trumpet, and 
requested permission to search among the dead for 
his colonel. His regiment was a fine one, with 
bright brass helmets and black horse-hair, bearing 
a strong resemblance to the costume of the ancient 
Romans. Many of our own soldiers accompanied 
him in his melancholy search. It was long before 
we found the French colonel, for he was lying on his 
face, his naked body weltering in blood. As soon 
as he was turned over, the captain recognized him. 
He uttered a sort of agonizing scream, sprang off his 
horse, dashed his helmet on the ground, knelt by the 
body, and, taking the bloody hand in his own, kissed 
it many times, in an agony of grief. He seemed 



REJOICINGS OVER THE VICTORY. 137 

entirely to forget, in his sorrow, that any one was 
present. We afterwards learned that the colonel 
had, in his youth, done him a great service, by releas- 
ing him from the police when evil company had led 
him to the commission of some crime. It was his 
first act of the kind ; and gratitude to the colonel led 
to an immediate enlistment in his corps. From that 
hour he had been to the captain as a father, and it 
was through his influence that he had attained his 
present rank in the army. The scene was truly an 
affecting one ; and it was with feelings of deep 
sympathy that we assisted him in committing the 
body to the earth. 

Our gallant commander remained on the field of 
battle all that day ; and when all the last sad duties 
were performed, and as many of the commissariat 
mules as could be found were gathered in, we marched 
from the scene of our late victory, and took up our 
position behind the Isla, The news of our victory 
was received in England with much joy, and our own 
regiment, the 28th, was spoken of with peculiar 
honor. These contests in Spain called forth much 
newspaper praise, and awakened the lyre of many 
a poet in the halls of old England. Perhaps the fol- 
lowing lines from Southey, written on this battle, 
may be acceptable to the reader : 

" Though the four quarters of the world have seen 
The British valor proved triumphantly 
Upon the French, in many a field far famed, 
Yet may the noble island in her rolls 
Of glory write Barossa's name. For there 



138 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

Not by the issue of deliberate plans, 

Consulted well, was the fierce conflict won, — 

Nor by the leader's eye intuitive, 

Nor force of either arm of war, nor art 

Of skilled artillerist, nor the discipline 

Of troops to absolute obedience trained, — 

But by the spring and impulse of the heart, 

Brought fairly to the trial, when all else 

Seemed like a wrestler's" garment thrown aside. 

By individual courage, and the sense 

Of honor, their old country's and their own, 

There to be forfeited, or there upheld, — 

This warmed the soldier's soul, and gave his hand 

The strength that carries with it victory. 

More to enhance their praise, the day was fought 

Against all circumstance ; a painful march 

Through twenty hours of night and day prolonged 

Forespent the British troops, and hope delayed 

Had left their spirits palled. But when the word 

"Was given to turn, and charge, and win the heights 

The welcome order came to them like rain 

Upon a traveller in the thirsty sands. 

Rejoicing, up the ascent, and in the front 

Of danger, they with steady step advanced, 

And with the insupportable bayonet 

Drove down the foe. The vanquished victor saw, 

And thought of Taiavera, and deplored 

His eagle lost. But England saw, well pleased, 

Her old ascendency that day sustained ; 

And Ssotland, shouting over all her hills, 

Among her worthies ranked another Graham." 

The brilliant success gained on the heights of Ba- 
rossa was but the prelude of other victories. The 
star of Napoleon, so long in the ascendant, had begun 
to decline in the horizon. Obliged to draw off many 
of his troops, those that remained felt the want of his 
guiding hand. Division reigned in the councils of 
his generals ; and the British leader, ever ready to 
take advantage, and ever on the watch for opportu- 



GREAT PRIVATION. 139 

nity, saw his favorable moment, and followed it up. 
The French hail retreated from Portugal, followed at 
every step by the army of the English. After the 
battle of Barossa, Graham had withdrawn from the 
command of our army, and joined that of Wellington, 
while Sir Thomas Picton took his place. We re- 
mained for a number of days near our position, while 
these changes were taking place, and then orders 
arrived that we should proceed at once to the moun- 
tains of the Sierra Morena, to assist in harassing the 
retreat of the French. We had scarcely commenced 
our march when our provisions began to fail, owing 
to the conduct of the Portuguese government, who 
would not supply their troops with provisions ; and 
so they were unable to continue the pursuit, while 
numbers were perishing for want of food. Our gen- 
erals could not see their allies suffering thus, and our 
own supplies were shared with them, and we were all 
put upon short allowance. Half a pound of bread, 
and half a pound of salt pork, was all that we received 
for a day's provision. And we were ascending 
mountains covered with woods and deep forests, in- 
fested by guerillas, who often fell upon and murdered 
our men, if they strayed away from the ranks. To 
prevent this was impossible ; for, if there were pro- 
visions in the country, men in our starving condition 
would not fail to obtain them ; but scarcely anything 
could be found, at this season. The French army 
were also suffering for want of food, and, as they 
preceded us in their retreat, they either devoured or 



140 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

destroyed everything that could sustain life. The 
poor peasants on their route fled from their homes, 
and shrunk equally from French and English, for 
they well knew that either would equally deprive 
them of the little they possessed. The sufferings of 
the peasantry were truly terrible. In the third clay 
of our march, a scene occurred which I shall never 
forget. We were slowly toiling up a huge mountain, 
so exhausted, from fatigue and want, that we could 
hardly proceed. When about half-way to the sum- 
mit, we perceived before us a large house. Some 
of our men hastened to it at once, hoping to procure 
some provision. The slight fastenings of the door 
soon yielded to their eager haste, and they were 
about to rush in, w T hen their steps were arrested by 
the misery the scene presented. The floor was cov- 
ered with persons in a state of actual starvation. 
Thirty women and children had already expired; 
and, scattered around among the corpses, lay fifteen 
or sixteen more wretched beings, still breathing, but 
unable to speak. Hungry as we were, the hearts of 
the soldiers were moved at the scene, and our next 
day's provision was cheerfully contributed to rescue 
them from death. But this kindness could only delay 
their fate. They were too weak to seek for more 
food ; they had scarcely strength to eat the little we 
could offer them ; and it is more than probable that 
every one perished. 

The next day my comrade, who had been fast fail- 
ing, declared himself unable to proceed. He was a 



SINGULAR INCIDENT. 141 

one fellow, — one that I had known in Ireland, and to 
whom I was much attached. Feeble as we were, we 
could not leave him behind, and we carried him a 
short distance ; but he soon died. Permission was 
given us to carry him a little way from the camp 
to bury him. We hollowed out a shallow grave, 
wrapped him in his blanket, and left him to his fate. 
Near the spot where we interred him was a small 
house, which we entered, and were fortunate enough 
to obtain a little wine. While in the house, we heard 
a scream, as of fear. We hastened out, and saw 
several of our soldiers running swiftly towards the 
camp, from the place where we had interred our 
comrade. They had dug him up, for the purpose of 
robbing him of his blanket. As they were ripping 
it open, the knife entered the flesh, and he began to 
struggle. It was this that had so frightened them. 
We went to the poor fellow, finished removing his 
blanket, and found that he was still alive. Want 
and fatigue had produced a state of insensibility 
resembling death, from which he had been aroused 
by the pain of his wound. We shared with him the 
little wine we had obtained, which so revived him 
that he was able to accompany us back from his" own 
funeral. He soon after recovered, and returned home 
to Ireland. 

A day or two after this occurrence, I left the 
company, with one of my companions, and went 
higher up the mountain, in search of wild pigs, which 
are sometimes found there. This was absolutely 



142 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

against our orders ; but, as we were literally starving 
to death, the consequences of disobedience, and the 
clangers of our journey, weighed but little in the bal- 
ance. I agreed to search one side of the mountain, 
while he ascended the other, and we were to meet 
at the top. When about half-way up the mountain, 
I was stopped by a ball whizzing close past my ear. 
Thinking that it might be my comrade, who did not 
see me, I turned, and, looking around, soon saw the 
green feather of my assailant, projecting over a rock. 
At this I was somewhat alarmed ; for he was so com- 
pletely hid behind the rock that I could not fire at 
him, and I knew that he was reloading his musket. 
In a moment more he fired again, but, fortunately for 
me, his musket flashed in the pan. There was still 
only his feather in sight ; at this I fired, and struck 
it. I then reloaded as hastily as possible, and ad- 
vanced cautiously up the mountain, hoping to get 
sight of him. As I was coming round the point of 
the rock, he sprang forward, laid clown his gun, 
spread out his arms, and exposed himself to my shot. 
I knew, by his motions, that he had no ammunition, 
and as I had no desire to kill him, I fixed my bay- 
onet on my gun, as if I would make a charge, and 
then advanced towards him, in a friendly manner. 
But, when I was within twice the length of my gun 
from him, he picked up his musket and attacked me. 
Darting back to avoid his bayonet, I fired my own 
gun, and he fell to the ground. I examined his 
knapsack, and found that it bore the mark of the 95th 



EFFORTS TO OBTAIN FOOD. 143 

rifle brigade of our own division. He was a guerilla, 
and had doubtless killed the man whose knapsack he 
bore. I examined his canteen, and found, to my 
great surprise, a pint of Jamaica brandy. In my 
exhausted state, this was a discovery which gave me 
the greatest pleasure. I took some of it, and, feel- 
ing quite refreshed, pursued my search for game. 
I had not gone far before I discovered a small pig, 
which I succeeded in shooting. This I carried with 
me to the top of the mountain, where I found my 
comrade awaiting me. He had been less successful 
than myself, having found nothing. He asked me 
how I had fared. I told him that I had shot an old 
hog and a little pig, at which he expressed great 
pleasure. I then showed him the contents of the 
canteen, which he joyfully shared with me ; and, 
having related my adventure, we retraced oar steps 
to the camp. We concealed our treasure as well as 
we were able ; but, notwithstanding all our care, the 
first person we saw, on our return, was the adjutant. 
He came up to us, and demanded where we had 
been. Upon the mountain, in search of food, was 
my reply. He told me, if he should report us, as he 
was required to do, we should be shot for disobeying 
orders. I answered, that it made little difference with 
us ; it would only hasten affairs, as it was impossible 
to survive much longer without food. " Did you 
find any?" he asked. We showed him our prize. 
He would gladly have purchased it of us ; but food, 
in our condition, was far more precious than money, 
13 



144 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

and we refused his offer of a doubloon, with the 
assurance that five would he no temptation to part 
with it. But, on arrival at our quarters, as we ivere 
cutting up the pig, gratitude for his kindness, in not 
reporting us, so far overcame our selfishness, that we 
sent him a quarter of it. The remainder made our 
ness a fine meal ; and we certainly were never in a 
better condition to estimate the value of food than 
when we devoured the little pig of the Morena. 

I have alluded to the annoyance by guerillas, or, 
as they were sometimes called, Partidas. These were 
principally, at first, Spanish peasants, who, unable to 
present any efficient force against the French, and 
unwilling to submit to them, threw themselves into 
the mountains, and, being well acquainted with all 
the passes and hiding-places, did the French much 
damage, by cutting off their communications, robbing 
their stores, and murdering every one who dared to 
stray from the main army. As the war proceeded, 
their numbers were enlarged by all those who were 
weary of the restraints of law ; — every robber that 
feared a jail, or could break from one ; every smug- 
gler whose trade had been interrupted, — and there 
were thousands of these, as there still are, in Spain; 
every one who was weary of the restraints of his 
life, and sought for excitement ; and all idlers 
who preferred the wild and reckless daring of these 
troops to the drill and watch of the army, were found 
either as associate or chief in these bands. They 
soon became regularly organized, chose their chiefs. 



GUERILLAS. 145 

and had watchwords, by which they could obtain a 
safe pass all over the country. They were profess- 
edly our allies, but they were almost as much a ter- 
ror to us as to our foes. They proved, however, 
invaluable to our army, as a means of communication 
with each other, and as spies on the movements of 
our enemies. It was impossible for the French to 
communicate with each other at all, except by send- 
ing strong escorts, and these were often cut off; 
while, on our side, news could be sent with almost 
the rapidity of telegraph, and this undoubtedly was 
a great advantage to us. The chiefs of these bands 
were often obliged to procure subsistence and treas- 
ure for themselves, by robbing their own country- 
men ; and, indeed, one of the principal causes of the 
sudden growth of these bands was the hope of inter- 
cepting the public and private plate, which was 
being carried from all parts of Spain to be coined 
into money. Yet, though most of the bands were 
worthless characters, there were some among them 
of more noble spirit. Some were actuated by re- 
venge — some by a gallant, enterprising spirit — 
and a few by an honest ambition to serve their coun- 
try. 

Our troops often met with many adventures with 
these foes ; and many were the weary hours, in our 
toilsome marches, that were beguiled by the recital 
of their hair-breadth escapes, or their own wonderful 
adventures. Some of these were of so much inter 



146 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

est that I cannot refrain from a desire to recount a 
few to my readers. 

Don Julian Sanchez was the son of a farmer, on 
the banks of the Guebra. The little cottage where 
he resided, with his parents and one sister, was the 
abode of happiness and plenty. In an evil hour, the 
French army passed that way. Their cattle were 
driven away and slaughtered, and their little harvest, 
just reaped, became the prey of the plunderers. 
Terrified and despairing, Julian fled, with his parents 
and sister, to the woods. But his parents were old, 
and, before they could reach the shelter of the wood, 
they were overtaken, carried back to the cottage, and 
murdered, in cold blood, on their own hearthstone. 
Julian and his sister concealed themselves in a cave ; 
but the next day he left her there, and went to see 
if he could obtain any trace of his parents. Direct- 
ing his course to their little cottage, he found their 
murdered corpses. Revenge and anger, in a spirit 
like Julian's, was deep, not loud. He shed no tear, 
uttered no complaint, — but calmly proceeded to 
inter the bodies of his parents in a humble grave. 
Then, kneeling on the sod, he swore revenge on their 
murderers, — a revenge which should be followed till 
his latest breath. He returned to his sister ; but, as 
he approached the cave where he had left her, what 
a sight met his view ! A party of the hated army 
were just issuing from its precincts. The body of 
his beautiful sister lay on the ground naked, — dis- 
honored, — the victim of a vile outrage. Julian 



a guerilla's vengeance. 147 

gazed for a moment on the scene. He had no time 
for tears, and he had sworn to live for revenge, — a 
vow which now burned itself in deeper characters 
upon his soul. He turned away. A huge rock over- 
hung the cave. He ascended it, and, secreting him- 
self in a little fissure where he could be heard, not 
seen, he gazed for a few moments on the chief of 
the band, till every line of his countenance was im- 
pressed on his soul. Then, calling to him from the 
rock, he said, " You hear me, but you see me not. I 
am a Spaniard, the son of those parents you mur- 
dered yesterday — the brother of her whose corpse 
lies before you. You are their murderer ; and I swear, 
by the Holy Virgin, that I will never lose sight for 
one day of your path, until my hands are imbrued in 
your heart's best blood ! You may think to escape 
me ; but remember, you shall die by my hand !" 

In a moment, the troops of the French were on the 
rock. They searched everywhere for the speaker, 
but no trace of him could be found, until, just as they 
had relinquished their search, one of the number fell 
dead by the blow of an unseen assassin. He was 
the first of the band that fell. Months passed away. 
Julian had never since met his foe ; but the frequent 
death of his followers, and the daring exploits of 
robbery that were constantly performing in his camp, 
often called to mind the voice he had heard. A few 
months after, in battle, this officer was attacked, and 
would have been killed, had not a Spaniard saved his 
life, at the risk of his own. He turned to thank his 
13* 



148 EUEOPE AKD THE ALLIES, 1811. 

unknown deliverer, but was met with so fierce a 
look of hate, that he involuntarily shrunk from it. 
"I desire no thanks," said the Spaniard; "your 
life is mine, and none but me shall take it." The 
voice was recognized, but its owner had glided away 
in the confusion. A year had elapsed, when this 
officer was again sent to the banks of the Guebra, 
and took up his quarters in the very house Julian's 
father formerly occupied. The first night of his stop 
there was enlivened by the arrival of four of the 
same party who had met with him the year before. 
In joyous mood, they had seated themselves around 
the table, and were discussing the events of the cam- 
paign. Suddenly they were startled by a deep voice, 
which the officer had cause to remember, and Julian, 
with four of his associates, glided into the room. So 
sudden, so unexpected, was the attack, that they had 
not time to grasp their swords, ere they were pin- 
ioned and led away. Julian and the chief alone 
remained. " Look at me," said Julian ; "do you 
know me ? In this very room, a year ago, my parents 
fell by your murderous hand. The stain of their 
blood still remains to witness against you. In that 
wood lies the corpse of my idolized and only sister. 
You were her assassin. You heard my vow. Not 
for one day have I left your steps. Twice have I 
warded death from your head ; but when I saw you 
desecrate again this hearthstone by your accursed 
presence, I knew that your time had come. French- 
man, prepare to die !" 



a guerilla's vengeance. 149 

After the death of this man, Julian succeeded in 
organizing a regular band. At the head of these, 
he would again and again assault the enemy, even 
though they outnumbered his own band many 
times. Another instance of his daring intrepidity, 
at a time when we were suffering for want of pro- 
visions, and of the patience with which he followed 
up his designs, deserves to be recorded. • It was the 
custom of the French garrison to send out their cattle 
beyond the walls every morning, for the purpose of 
grazing, under the protection of a guard, which at 
once kept them from wandering too far, and also 
watched the movements of the Spanish army. Don 
Julian determined, if possible, to surprise the herd. 
For this purpose, he concealed himself, with his band, 
day after day, among the broken ground, near the 
river. But the guard was still too powerful and vig- 
ilant to allow him to make the attempt. At length, 
as if to reward him for his patience, fortune threw 
in his way, not only the object for which he sought, 
but one of far more importance to him. On a certain 
day, the governor of the place where the garrison 
was stationed came out, accompanied by a very 
slender escort, and ventured imprudently to cross 
the river, at the self-same spot where Julian lay con- 
cealed. He was instantly surrounded, and made 
prisoner. Almost at the same moment, the cattle, 
frightened by the explosion of a shell which fell 
among them, ran towards the river. The guard fol- 
lowed, but overtook them at such a distance from the 



150 ETTKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

city, that Julian thought himself justified in making 
the attack. It was attended with perfect success, 
and governor and cattle were cony eyed in triumph 
to the British headquarters. 

Another of these chiefs was named Juan Martin 
Diaz, or the " Empecinado." When the news of the 
detention of Ferdinand at Bayonne first reached 
Spain, he was engaged as a farmer. Young, ardent, 
and daring, he threw aside his plough, and persuaded 
a neighboring youth, only sixteen, to join him. Their 
first object was to procure horses and arms. They 
took post upon the high road from France to Madrid, 
for the purpose of intercepting the French couriers. 
An occasion soon occurred. A party of six men 
were riding past a narrow defile. An old woman 
went out and arrested the progress of the last two, 
by offering them some fruit for sale. She detained 
them until the others were in advance some distance ; 
then the two youths fired from their covert, and their 
victims fell. Long before the others returned for 
their comrades, their horses and arms were far away. 
These boys were soon joined by others, of which 
Juan was the chief ; and, as he grew older and had 
more experience, his band increased, until it num- 
bered one thousand five hundred men. With these 
he performed the most daring exploits, cutting off 
supplies, and intercepting convoys. By his intelli- 
gence, activity, and bravery, he was enabled to do 
the enemy much mischief. In vain were armies sent 
to surround his band. They concealed themselves in 



DARING EXPLOIT OF JUAN MARTIN DIAZ. 151 

their fastnesses, and baffled them all, until his very 
name became a terror to the French armies. He 
gave no quarter to the conquered ; and such was his 
discipline of his followers, and his generosity in the 
division of the spoils, that he became the idol of 
his band, and they were willing to undertake any 
exploit at his bidding. 

A convoy was conveying, in a carriage, a lady, a 
relative of Marshal Moncey. The coach was escorted 
by twelve soldiers, in the centre of two columns of 
six thousand each, about a mile asunder. The Eni- 
pecinado, with only eight of his followers, was con- 
cealed close to the town of Caraveas. He allowed 
the leading column to pass, then boldly rushed upon 
the convoy, put to death the whole of the escort, 
seized and carried off the carriage ; and, when the 
alarm was given, Martin and his prize were in safety 
in the mountains, where he effectually eluded the 
search made after him. He saved the life of the 
lady, who was sent to his own house, and had every 
attention paid her. This convoy was a very rich 
prize of money and jewels. This he divided among 
his men, reserving only a small share for himself. 
He often met with very narrow escapes. On one 
occasion, he was unhorsed and disarmed, and the 
sworcl of his opponent passed through his arm, and 
entered his side. His wound seemed to give him 
new courage. He suddenly sprang at his foe, and, 
seizing him by the neck, dragged him to the ground. 
He fell with him, however, but continued to keep 



152 EUROPE A1NTD THE ALLIES, 1811. 

uppermost. The other refusing to surrender, the 
Empecinado held him. fast with one hand, while with 
the other he snatched up a stone, and beat him to 
death. On another occasion, he was nearly made 
prisoner by some Spanish troops in the pay of the 
French; and, finding every other hope of escape 
impossible, he threw himself down an immense preci- 
pice, rather than fall into their hands. His fall 
was broken by the projecting limbs of trees, covered 
with very thick foliage. He was discovered here by 
one of his followers, and taken home. He recovered 
finally, after suffering a severe illness, which for some 
time prevented his taking the field. 

The most distinguished of these courageous lead- 
ers was Xavier Mina. He was a student at Pam- 
plona when the revolution broke out. His father was 
a considerable land-owner, and deputy for one of the 
valleys of Navarre. Some act of injustice, prac- 
tised towards his father, had driven young Xavier 
to desperation. His resolution was taken. He 
threw aside his studies, went to his native village, 
and, summoning around him the young men of his 
acquaintance, related his wrongs, and urged them to 
join him in his career of revenge. Moved by his 
enthusiastic address, twelve of his companions vol- 
unteered to join him. Arming themselves with mus- 
kets and ammunition, they sought the mountain 
passes, and maintained themselves, while awaiting 
opportunities of action, by subsisting on the sheep 
belonging to Mina's father. His first adventure was 



EXPLOITS OF XAVIER MINA. 153 

to surprise a party of seven artillery-men, who were 
carrying two pieces of cannon and a quantity of am- 
munition from Saragossa to Pamplona. When the 
news of this success reached his village, others were 
encouraged to volunteer. His next exploit was, with 
his band of twenty, to attack a general officer, who 
was escorted by twenty-four foot and twelve horse- 
men. Stationing his men in a narrow defile, he gave 
orders to fire as they were descending, each one hav- 
ing selected his man. Twenty of the escort were 
thus levelled to the earth, before they had any 
intimation of their danger. The general was one of 
the number. The rest of the escort were made pris- 
oners, and a large sum of money fell into Mina's 
hands. This he distributed among his men, advising 
them to send part to their families, and retain no 
more than would suffice for the expenses of their own 
interment, exposed as they now continually were to 
death. The men were thus raised in their own 
estimation, and in that of their countrymen, wherever 
this was told; and volunteers soon presented them- 
selves in abundance, attracted by a success which 
was reported everywhere with the usual exaggera- 
tions. He received, however, only such persons as 
he regarded as a valuable acquisition to his band. 
These wore a red ribbon in their hats, and a red col- 
lar to their jackets. In Arragon, a band of fifty rob- 
bers were adding to the miseries of that unhappy 
country. Having heard of their atrocities, Mina 
turned his course thither. He succeeded in surpris- 



154 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 



ing them. The greater part were killed on the spot, 
and the remainder sent as prisoners to Tarragona. 
Rations were voluntarily raised for his people, where- 
ever they were expected, and given as freely at one 
time as they were paid for at another by the spoils 
of the enemy. It was in vain that the French made 
repeated efforts to crush this enterprising enemy. If 
his band were dispersed, it was only to unite, and, 
by striking a blow in some weak point, render them- 
selves more formidable than before. 

A large number of prisoners, and an amount of 
treasure, were to be sent from Vittoria to France. 
Twelve hundred men accompanied it as an escort. 
At the Puerto de Arlaban, they were attacked by 
the seemingly omnipresent Mina, of whose absence, 
in another part of the country, they thought them- 
selves assured. They were entirely routed ; but, 
unfortunately, two hundred of the prisoners were 
slain in the contest. Information of the journey of 
this escort had been procured from a new recruit in 
Mina's band, who had his own object to accomplish 
by it. He was a gentleman of some standing, who 
was engaged to a beautiful Spanish lady. Her affec- 
tions had been stolen from him by a wounded French 
officer, quartered in her father's house. He had 
recovered, and was now taking his bride home to 
France. The former lover had sworn a deep revenge, 
and, unable himself to accomplish this object, had 
enlisted the powerful Mina on his side. When the 
band returned to their haunts, they carried with them 



EXPLOITS OF XAV1ER MINA. 155 

six ladies, who were guilty of the same crime, viz., 
having accepted, as husbands, French officers. 
Their fate was, indeed, a sad one. The contest for 
them had been fierce in the extreme. They had 
seen their protectors, one by one, fall around them, 
fighting until the last breath in their defence ; and 
now they were left helpless to the mercy of theii 
conquerors. A mock trial was instituted. They 
were found guilty of aiding the enemies of their 
country, and all of them executed. 

But Mina was not always successful. Not long 
after this, he had attacked and overcome a party of 
French. As he was conveying his prisoners to 
Robres, he was betrayed by one of his own men, and 
was attacked as suddenly as he had fallen upon 
others. His band were scattered, many of them 
slain, and he escaped, with great difficulty, with his 
own life. One week afterward, he appeared in the 
Rioja, with five thousand men, and attacked a Polish 
regiment, which was retiring to France. They were 
entirely routed. Mina enlarged his band by an 
accession of every one of the Spanish prisoners 
whom he had liberated, and filled his coffers with the 
booty. One million of francs fell into his hands, 
besides the equipages, arms and stores of all kinds, 
and a quantity of church plate. Two weeks after, he 
captured another convoy, going from Valencia to 
France. General Abbe now bent his whole force to 
disperse his troops. For three days in succession he 
followed Mina's troops to their haunts, and each day 
14 



156 EUKOPE A^STD THE ALLIES, 1811. 

defeated them ; so that, on the last day, Mina was 
obliged again to flee alone for his life. Yet, not dis- 
couraged, he struggled on with various success, until 
at length he fell into the hands of the French, who 
sent him a prisoner to France. Great rejoicings 
were made when the capture of this formidable 
enemy was reported ; but they soon found that they 
had little reason for joy, for his place at the head 
of the band was taken by his uncle, Francisco, who 
proved himself, if possible, even more formidable than 
his nephew. His various adventures would well 
fill a volume, and it is easy to see the interest they 
must have possessed when related around the bivouac 
fire on those mountains, where no one knew but that 
any moment might bring his army around them. 

But to return to my own history. We were still 
pursuing our weary course, sometimes coming within 
sight of our enemies, and sometimes marching and 
counter-marching, when our leaders thought best to 
avoid a battle. We were still suffering the pangs of 
hunger, our principal food being a supply of ground 
bark. The soldiers continued to wander away, and 
often Escaped, with their lives, from imminent peril. 
One of our men observed, at a little distance from the 
camp, a commotion in the bushes, which he thought 
was occasioned by some wild animal ; and he hastened 
out to secure it. Creeping cautiously along under 
the bushes, his course was suddenly arrested by a 
bullet flying over him. Having passed around a rock 
which concealed him from the camp, he hastily 



ADVENTURES IN SEARCH OF FOOD. 157 

jumped up, and looked round. He soon spied a 
woman sitting near a small spring, with a child in 
her arms, as he thought ; but, concluding that it was 
best to be on his guard, he crept cautiously near her, 
and soon saw that she was thoroughly armed, and 
what seemed to be a child was something which 
certainly did not possess life. The shot had 
evidently been fired by her, and she was watching 
for his reappearance. He fired, and killed her. On 
taking her arms, he discovered that it was one of the 
guerillas, dressed in female apparel, and evidently 
intended for a decoy. Judging from articles found 
around him, all our troops had not been so successful 
as was our soldier in discovering the disguise. 

There are not many villages on these mountains, 
and but few scattered habitations. The next clay 
after the adventure I have just related, a small party 
of us again left in search of food. We soon found, in 
a beautiful valley, a small house. "We knocked for 
admission. There was no answer ; so, without further 
ceremony, the door was broken down, and we 
entered. A fire was found burning on the hearth, 
showing, however desolate the hut might now be, it 
had not long wanted inhabitants. We found, how- 
ever, no food, and were turning away, quite dis- 
appointed, when one of our number spied an open 
hole in the garden. We found there, to our great 
delight, two pigs of wine, which our near approach 
had probably disturbed its owners in their attempts to 
conceal. These pig-skins were to us quite a curios- 



158 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

ity. The skin is taken as entire as possible from 
the animal, and turned so that the hair will be in- 
side, and then preserved in such a way as to make 
it capable of holding wine. These are the common 
wine-casks of the country. I have often seen loads 
of them ; and so perfectly do they retain their resem- 
blance, that any one unaccustomed to the sight 
would say, at once, that they were loads of dead 
porkers. We took our wine, and returned as rapidly 
as possible to the lines, to share our good fortune 
with our comrades. 

A day or two after this, as we were encamped on 
one of the hills which overlooked the country to a 
great distance, a movement on the plains below 
attracted the attention of our officers. Scouts were 
instantly sent out, to learn the nature of it. Anima- 
tion again appeared in the faces of our men ; for, 
even if it were the enemy, we all felt it would be 
far better to win an honorable death in an open bat- 
tle, than to perish daily, as we were doing, by 
hunger and murder. It was not long before our 
messengers returned, spurring their horses, and joy 
in every feature of their countenances. As soon as 
they came within hearing, they flung up their caps 
in the air, shoufing, "Relief, relief! our commis- 
sariat is coming ! It will soon be here ! " The ex- 
citement among our men was intense. They could 
hardly be restrained from rushing down immediately 
to break upon the long-expected, long-delayed sup- 
plies. When, at length, they came near, and we 



DEPARTURE FOR BADAJOS. 150 

saw the baggage-wagons, accompanied by a strong 
escort, the ill-repressed enthusiasm of the men 
burst forth in one long, deafening shout, that rever- 
berated from the tops of those mountains for miles 
around. The scene then presented by our camp 
was, indeed, an exciting one. Officers were engaged 
on all sides in distributing provisions to the starv- 
ing troops, and these in administering cordials and 
refreshments to their sick comrades. Many of the 
sick, who were apparently near their end, revived and 
soon recovered. The same escort brought informa- 
tion that the destination of Wellington's army was 
now to be changed, and our division of it was 
directed to proceed immediately to Badajos. This, 
too, was joyful news ; and, with the morrow's dawn, 
everything was ready for motion. Tents W*ere struck, 
our baggage stored, and order everywhere restored. 
Once more we had an aim, an object; and, with this, 
it was easy to become again docile and obedient. I 
shall never forget the sensation of pleasure that 
throbbed in our hearts, as our last column defiled 
down the mountain, and we bade farewell to those 
haunts, which had been so nearly fatal to us all. 
Our course was immediately directed to Badajos, 
and, on the 3d of May, we sat down three leagues 
from its walls. 

14* 



CHAPTER V. 

3adajos. — Its Capture by the French. — Attempts to retake it by the 
English. — Wellington invests it in Person. — Assault upon Fort Chris- 
toval. — Storming of the Town. — Terrific Conflict. — The place sacked 
by the Victors. — Disgraceful Drunkenness and Debauchery of the 
Troops. — The Main Body of the Army depart for Beira. 

Badajos, the capital of the Spanish province of 
Estremadura, is situated near the Portuguese fron- 
tier, at the confluence of the small stream of the 
Rivillas with the Ghiadiana. It is very strongly 
fortified, both nature and art having contributed 
their stores*to render its position impregnable. A 
huge rock, one hundred feet high, overlooks the 
meeting of the waters. On the top of this rock rises 
an old castle, venerable from its age, and itself a 
strong fortification. The town occupies a triangular 
space between the rivers, and is protected by eight 
curtains and bastions, from twenty-three to thirty 
feet high, with good counterscarps, covered way and 
glacis. On the left bank of the Gruadiana there is 
a lunette, covering a dam and sluice, which com- 
mands an ' inundation. Beyond the Rivillas stands 
an isolated redoubt, called the Picurina. This is 
four hundred yards from the town. Two hundred 
yards from the ramparts, rises a defective crown- 
work, called the Pardaleras. On the right bank of 



BADAJOS. 161 

the Guadiana rises a hill, crowned by a regular fort, 
three hundred feet square, called San Christoval. 
A bridge, supported by twenty-two stone arches, 
crosses the stream, and this is protected by a bridge 
head. The strength of this place made its possession 
a desirable object to both parties. It had been 
early invested by the French, under Soult, and 
vigorously assaulted. It was, however, well de- 
fended, and would probably have maintained its 
position, had it not been for the weakness and in- 
efficiency of its commanding officers, which caused 
the battle of the Gebora to terminate in a shameful 
defeat and immense loss to the Spanish army. 
Rafael Menacho was next made commander of the 
place. He sustained the siege with great spirit, and 
everything seemed to promise favorably, when 
Menacho was unfortunately killed, during a sally, 
and the command devolved upon Imas, a man most 
unfitted for this situation. He surrendered, almost 
without a struggle, to the French ; although he had 
received certain information that a strong army was 
moving to his assistance, and would soon raise the 
siege. He demanded that his grenadiers should 
march out of the breach. Permission was granted, 
but they were obliged themselves to enlarge it, 
before they could do so. The French immediately 
took possession of the city, and strengthened its de- 
fences. Lord Wellington was much chagrined at 
the loss of this place, and early in May sent Lord 
William Stewart to invest it. The siege was carried 



162 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

on Avith vigor, but under great disadvantages, aris- 
ing from want of the proper materials for construc- 
tion of the works. In endeavoring to erect their 
batteries, the engineers were obliged to labor ex- 
posed to a heavy fire from the city, which proved so 
destructive, that, before one small battery against one 
of the outworks of the town was completed, seven 
hundred men and five officers had fallen. When, at 
length, on the morning of the I lth of May, this bat- 
tery was completed, before night five of its guns 
were silenced by the enemy, and the rest were so 
exposed that it was impossible to man them. The 
same day news reached our army that the French 
army were coming to the relief of Badajos. Imme- 
diately our commander took steps to raise the siege, 
as to remain there would have exposed our whole 
force to destruction. On the night of the loth, 
he removed all his artillery and platforms ; and 
on that of the 14th, his guns and stores. But so 
secretly was this clone, that the French were entirely 
ignorant of it, until, as the rear guard were about 
being drawn off, they made a sally, and, of course, 
discovered it. Soon after this, the battle of Albuera 
occurred. 

Our own division was not, however, engaged in this 
battle, having been ordered to Campo Mayor, where, 
on the 24th, orders reached us that we were again to 
march for Badajos, Lord Wellington having resolved 
to invest it in person. We immediately marched, 
and arrived on the evening of the 27th, where we 



ASSAULT UPON FORT CHRISTOVAL. 1G3 

found Lord Wellington, with ten thousand men. 
During the absence of our army, Phillipon, the 
governor of the place, had entirely destroyed the 
little remains of fortifications left by them, re- 
paired all his own damages, and procured a fresh 
supply of wine and vegetables from the country. 
He had also mounted more guns, and interested the 
towns-people on his side. The works of the siege 
Avere commenced under Wellington's own direction, 
on the 29th, and carried on a week, with various 
success. Then it was resolved to make an assault 
upon Fort Christoval. The storming party, preceded 
by a forlorn hope, and led by Major Mcintosh, with 
the engineer Forster as a guide, reached the glacis 
and descended to the ditch about midnight, on the 
night of the sixth of June. The French had, how- 
ever, cleared all the rubbish away, so that seven feet 
perpendicular still remained ; and above this were 
many obstacles, such as carts chained together, 
pointed beams of wood, and large shells ranged along 
the ramparts, to roll down upon the assailants. The 
forlorn hope, finding that the breach was still im- 
practicable, was retiring, with little loss, when they 
met the main body, leaping into the ditch with lad- 
ders, and the ascent was again attempted ; but the 
ladders were too short, and the confusion and mischief 
occasioned by the bursting of the shells was so great 
that the assailants again retired, with the loss of more 
than one hundred men. Two nights after, a second 
attack was made, but met with no better success. 



164 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1811. 

The British troops, with loud shouts, jumped into the 
ditch. The French defied them, to come on, and at 
the same time rolled barrels of powder and shells 
down, while the musketry made fearful and rapid 
havoc. In a little time, the two leading columns 
united at the main breach ; the supports also came 
up ; confusion arose about the ladders, of which only 
a few could be reared ; and the enemy, standing on 
the ramparts, bayoneted the foremost assailants, over- 
turned the ladders, and again poured their destruc- 
tive fire upon the crowd below. One hundred and 
forty men had already fallen, and yet not a single 
foot had been gained, nor was there one bright spot 
in the darkness to encourage them to proceed. The 
order was given to retire. The next clay, Welling- 
ton heard that the army of Soult was again advancing 
to attack him ; and as to receive battle there would 
throw all the disadvantage on his side, he thought 
best to raise the siege. On the 10th, the stores 
were all removed, and the siege turned to a block- 
ade, which was afterwards terminated, when the 
armies of Mannont and Soult, having effected a 
junction, advanced to its relief. It was nearly a 
year before the allied army again found it desirable 
to approach Badajos. Meanwhile the war was car- 
ried on with great activity, although with varied 
success. . 

My own time was passed with the regiment to 
which I belonged, either in the mountains, or in for- 
aging or bringing supplies, as circumstances dictated. 



LAST SIEGE OF BADAJOS. 165 

Although again and again engaged in light skirmishes 
with small bodies of the enemy, occupied as our own 
regiment were, it was not my fortune to engage in a 
general battle, until the last siege of Badajos. And 
as this city was one of the most important, and its 
siege the best sustained of any on the Peninsula, I 
shall give an account of it more in detail than I 
have thought best to do of the rest. 

The unfavorable issue of the two former invest- 
ments, had induced Lord Wellington to wait until a 
combination of favorable circumstances should at 
least give more hope of success. The auspicious 
moment had, in his view, now arrived. The heavy 
rains which occur at this season of the year would so 
raise the rivers in the high lands, where his troops 
were located, that there would be no risk of their de- 
tention in proceeding at once to the Alemtejo, while 
this same flow of waters, in the more level portion 
occupied by the French, would prove a fatal imped- 
iment to the junction of their forces, which were at 
this time considerably scattered, owing to the diffi- 
culty of obtaining provisions. Regiments were de- 
spatched, therefore, to bring all the stores of cloth- 
ing and provisions from the different points where 
they had been left, and concentrate them near Bad- 
ajos. 

Wellington himself, having remained at his head- 
quarters, on the Coa, until the last moment, in order 
to conceal his real intentions, now came in person to 
superintend the new works. As the French had 



166 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

strongly occupied the stone bridge over the Guadi 
ana, he ordered a flying bridge to be thrown across, 
which was completed on the 15th of March, 1812. 
Over this Major-general Beresford passed, and im- 
mediately invested Badajos, with an army of fifteen 
thousand men. A covering army of thirty thousand 
occupied different positions near ; and, including a 
division on its march from Beira, the whole of the 
allied forces now in Estremadura numbered fifty- 
one thousand. The garrison of the enemy, composed 
of French, Hessian and Spanish troops, was five 
thousand strong. Phillipon, its brave commander, 
had been busily occupied, since the last siege, in 
strengthening the defences of the place, and in pro- 
curing supplies for the expected invasion. Every 
family was obliged to keep three months' provision 
on hand, or leave the place, and every preparation 
was made for an obstinate and long-continued resist- 
ance. General Picton took the chief command of 
the assailants. He was alternately assisted by Gen- 
erals Kempt, Colville, and Bowis. 

The night of the 17th was ushered in by a violent 
storm of wind and rain. It was extremely dark and 
uncomfortable ; but, as the loud roar of the tempest 
would effectually drown the noise of the pick-axes, 
eighteen hundred men were ordered to break ground 
only one hundred and sixty yards from the Picurina. 
They were accompanied by a guard of two thousand 
men. So rapidly did they work, that, though it was 
late when they commenced, before morning they had 



LAST SIEGE OF BADAJOS. 167 

completed a communication four thousand feet in 
length, and a parallel six hundred yards long, three 
feet deep, and three wide. The next night these 
works were enlarged, and two batteries traced out. 
To destroy these works was now the first object of 
the besieged. On the 19th, thirteen hundred of their 
number stole out of the city, unobserved, into the 
communication, and began to destroy the parallel. 
They were soon discovered, however, and driven 
away. As they rode up, part of the French cavalry 
entered into a mock contest, giving the countersign 
in Portuguese, and were thus permitted to pass the 
pickets ; but they soon betrayed their real character, 
and our troops, hastily seizing their arms, drove them 
back to the castle, with a loss of three hundred men. 
One hundred and fifty of the British fell, and, unfor- 
tunately, Colonel Fletcher, the chief engineer, was 
badly wounded. Owing to this circumstance, and 
the continued wet and boisterous state of the weather, 
the works advanced slowly ; but the batteries were at 
length completed. Owing to the heavy rains, the 
parallel remained full of water, and it was found im- 
possible to drain it. But this was in some degree 
remedied by making an artificial bottom of sand- 
bags. One place yet remained, on the right bank of 
the Guadiana, which Wellington had not invested 
The eagle eye of Phillipon soon perceived his ad- 
vantage. He erected here three batteries, which 
completely swept our works with a most destructive 
fire ; and its effect would have been yet greater, had 
15 



168 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

it not been that the mud obstructed the bound of the 
bullets. A courier was instantly despatched to the 
fifth division, stationed at Campo Mayor, for assist- 
ance. But misfortunes seldom come alone. The 
heavy rains had caused such a rise in the river, that 
the flying bridges were swept away, and the trenches 
filled with water. The provisions and ammunition 
of the army were still on the other side of the river, 
so that we were soon in want of both. To add to 
this, the earth thrown up for intrenchments became 
so saturated with water that it crumbled away, and 
our labors were for the time wholly suspended. A few 
clays of fine weather, however, relieved us from our 
unpleasant situation. The river subsided, another 
flying bridge was constructed and row-boats obtained, 
so that the communication might not again be inter- 
rupted, under any circumstances. On the 25th the 
reinforcement from Campo Mayor arrived, and the 
right bank of the Guadiana was immediately in- 
vested. The same day, our batteries were opened 
upon the fort. The enemy were by no means silent 
spectators of this invasion. They returned our fire 
with such vigor, that several of our guns were dis- 
mounted, and quite a number of officers killed. 
Marksmen were also stationed on the trenches, to 
shoot every one who should show his head over the 
parapet. 

General Picton now resolved to take the fort by 
assault. Its external appearance did not indicate 
much strength, and he hoped for an easy victor}'. 



LAST SIEGE OF BADAJOS. 169 

But the event proved that these appearances were 
deceptive. The fort was strong ; the ditch fourteen 
feet perpendicular, and guarded with thick, slanting 
poles, and from the top there were sixteen feet of 
an earthen slope. Seven guns were mounted on the 
walls, and two hundred men, each armed with two 
loaded muskets, stood ready to repel all intruders. 
Loaded shells were also ranged along the walls, to be 
pushed over, in case of an attack. General Kempt 
took the direction of the assault, which was arranged 
for the night of the 25th. Five hundred men were 
selected from the third division, of which two hun- 
dred were stationed in the communication of San 
Roque, to prevent any assistance reaching the fort 
from the town ; one hundred occupied a position at 
the right of the fort, one hundred at the left, and the 
remainder were held as a reserve, under the command 
of Captain Powis. 

About nine o'clock, the signal was given, and the 
troops moved forward. The night was very clear, 
although there was no moon ; and the fort, which had 
loomed up in the darkness still and silent, as though 
untenanted, answered back the first shot of the assail- 
ants with a discharge that caused it to resemble a 
sheet of fire. The first attack was directed against 
the palisades in the rear ; but the strength of these, 
and the destructive fire poured down upon them, 
obliged them to seek some weaker part. They 
turned to the face of the fort ; but here, the depth 
of the ditch, and the slanting stakes at the top of it 



1T0 ETJEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

again baffled their attempts. The enemy lost not a 
moment in pouring their fire upon the assailants, 
and the loud death-screams told that the crisis was 
becoming more and more imminent. The alarm-bells 
in the city itself now rung out their shrill sounds, 
the guns on the walls and on the castle opened on 
the assailants, rockets were thrown up by the be- 
sieged, and the answering shots from the trenches 
served to increase the tumult. All eyes were turned 
in the direction of the fort. A battalion, hastily 
sent out from the city, advanced to its aid ; but they 
had scarcely entered the communication, when the 
troops stationed there rushed to the onset, and in a 
few moments they were driven back within the 
walls. By the light of those streams of fire, which 
ascended every moment from the Picurina, dark 
forms might be seen struggling on the ramparts, in 
all the energy of determined contest. Continued 
rounds of artillery had broken down the palisades in 
front, and the assailants were fighting, hand to hand, 
for an entrance. 

The party in the rear of the fort had thrown their 
ladders, like bridges, across the ditch, resting them on 
the slanting stakes, and springing on them, drove back 
their guards. Fifty men, bearing axes, now discov- 
ered the gate, which soon fell beneath their blows, 
and they rushed in to a nearer contest. The little 
garrison, stern in their resistance, did what they 
could. Powis, Gips, Holloway and Oates, fell on 
the ramparts. Nixon, Shaw, and Rudcl, were not 



LAST SIEGE OF BADAJOS. 171 

long behind. Scarcely an officer was left ; and yet 
the struggle continued. At length, when only 
eighty-six men remained, they surrendered, and the 
Picurina passed to the allies. Only one hour had 
that fierce conflict lasted, yet of our troops four 
officers and fifty men had fallen, and fifteen officers 
and two hundred and fifty men were wounded. Phil- 
lipon felt deeply the loss of this fort. He did not 
conceal from his soldiers the increase of danger to 
their city from it ; hut he stimulated their courage by 
reminding them that death was far preferable to an 
abode in the English prison-ships. They deeply felt 
that appeal, and, with the first dawn of light, their 
guns were manned with renewed activity. These 
were turned against the fort, and so raked it that it 
was impossible for our troops to remain there, and it 
was deserted. This victory gave fresh courage to 
the besiegers. Our whole force was occupied, the 
three succeeding nights, in erecting new batteries, 
and in extending the parallels and communications. 
In the daytime, comparatively little could be done, 
as the fire from the town so galled the workmen 
Repeatedly they dismounted our guns, and destroyed 
the defences which had been erected to shield the 
laborers, so that we were obliged to wait until the 
darkness prevented their marksmen from taking aim, 
in order to carry on our works. The night of the 
27th, an attempt was made to destroy the dam, which 
had been built for the purpose of forming an inunda- 
tion, and lessening the space where our troops coaid 
15* 



IT 2 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812, 

work ; but the moon had now made her appearance, 
and shone so brightly that the effort was unsuccess- 
ful. 

On this night a most daring feat was performed bv 
one of the French. Having disguised himself, he 
crept over the wall, and concealed himself until he 
had caught the watchword for the night. Then, 
boldly mingling with the troops, he proceeded to the 
works. Here the engineer had placed a line to mark 
the direction of the sap. Just before the workmen 
arrived, he moved the string, until he brought it 
within complete range of the castle guns. The men 
commenced work at once, but the light of the moon 
enabled the guns to tell with fearful precision upon 
them ; and it was not until a severe loss had been 
sustained, that the mistake was discovered. Mean- 
while, the intruder stole quietly back to his old. 
quarters, which he reached unmolested. 

Soult, trusting to the strong intrenchments of the 
place, had but little fear that it would finally surren- 
der ; but he knew a hard-fought battle was inevitable. 
He therefore endeavored, as much as possible, to 
concentrate his forces near; but, while they were 
marching for this purpose, Graham and Hill attacked 
their flanks, and forced them to take another direc- 
tion. The whole of the Spanish army now moved 
on to the Ron da hills, and threatened to attack Se- 
ville. This movement obliged Soult to detach a large 
part of his army to the assistance of this city, and 
had, as the event proved, fatally delayed his march 



LAST SIEGE OF BADAJOS. 173 

to Badajos. On the 30th, Wellington received inform- 
ation that Sonlt had resumed his march, and would 
soon arrive ; but this news only served to hasten the 
preparations for the attack. Forty-eight pieces of 
artillery were now constantly playing against the San 
Roque, and the siege advanced at all points. Still 
the San Roque stood firm. General Picton was the 
more anxious for its destruction, as the inundation, 
which was caused by the dam, and protected by this 
lunette, prevented the free action of the troops. 

On the night of the 1st of April, several brave 
fellows determined to see if they could not accom- 
plish by stratagem what open force had failed to 
effect. Two officers placed themselves at the head 
of a small company of sappers. Under cover of the 
darkness, and their motions encumbered by the 
powder they were obliged to carry, they stole rapidly, 
but noiselessly, into the camp of the enemy. It was, 
indeed, a dangerous experiment. The least noise, 
the slightest accident, might alarm the sentinel ; and 
then, they well knew, none would return to tell their 
fate. Scarcely venturing to breathe, they reached, 
in safety, a spot near the place. One of the officers 
then went to examine the clam. During his absence, 
the rest of the party could see the sentinel, as he 
approached within a very few feet of where they lay 
concealed. They saw, if they could dispose of him 
without noise, they might probably accomplish their 
aim undiscovered. The officer, having examined the 
dam, now returned, just as the sentinel approached. 



174 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

"Now, boys, is your time," he whispered. " Re- 
member, one word, one sound, and we are lost." 
Riquet, a powerful Irishman, selected for this pur- 
pose, seized his cloak, and stood prepared. As the 
man was passing, he sprang forward, and, throwing 
his cloak over him, he was in an instant gagged and 
bound. Then, rapidly and silently, the powder was 
placed against the dam, the train laid, and the match 
applied. They waited a moment, to see that it was 
not extinguished, and then hastily retreated. A few 
moments passed, and the loud explosion was the first 
intelligence the enemy had of the intrusion. All 
eyes were bent anxiously upon the spot, but our 
hopes were destined to a sad disappointment. The 
dam stood firm, and the inundations still remained. 
But, although this brave attempt had failed, it soon 
became apparent to our general that the crisis was 
rapidly approaching. The bastions of the Trinidad 
and the Santa Maria had already given way; the 
breaches were daily enlarging, and hope grew strong 
that we should succeed in reducing the place before 
Soult should arrive. Nor were the enemy blind to 
their danger. They had already built a strong in- 
trenchment behind the walls. Now they converted 
the nearest houses and garden- walls into a third line 
of defence. 

Rumors were continually circulating that the 
French army was close at hand ; but they were so 
uncertain that no dependence could be placed upon 
them. About this time, however, certain intelligence 



LAST SIEGE OF BADAJOS. 175 

was brought that Soult had effected a junction with 
Drouet and Daricoa, and was already at Albuera. No 
time was then to be lost. Wellington himself exam- 
ined the breaches, and pronounced them practicable, 
and the night of the 6th of April was fixed for the 
assault. Rapidly the news circulated among the 
army, and eighteen thousand daring soldiers burned 
for that attack, that was to carry to posterity so 
dreadful a tale. I shall never forget the effect on 
our own regiment, when it was announced. General 
Sponsbury himself bore the tidings, and asked if our 
regiment — the 2Sth of foot — was willing to lead 
the assault upon the castle. This offer had already 
been made to the colonels of the 10th and 17th regi- 
ments ; but their men were suffering so severely from 
a disease in the eyes, called the Jamaica Sands, that 
they declined the honor. " My men have their eyes 
open, at such a time, general," answered our brave 
colonel; ' c nor is their leader ever blind to the inter- 
ests of king and country." Then, turning to us, he 
cried, "What say you, my lads? Are you willing 
to take the front ranks in this attack?" A loud 
shout gave its affirmative to this appeal. Every heart 
thrilled at the honor thus conferred, although all 
knew how perilous such a distinction, must necessa- 
rily be. 

The dreaded yet longed-for night drew on, and 
our officers were busily engaged in arranging the 
order of the attack, and in preparing the men for 
their duty. Picton's division was to cross the Rivil- 



176 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

las river, and scale the castle walls, which were from 
eighteen to twenty feet in height, furnished with every 
means of destruction, and so narrow at the top that 
their defenders could easily reach and overturn the 
ladders. 

To Leith was appointed the distant bastion of San 
Vincente, where the glacis was mined, the ditch 
deep, the scarp thirty feet high, and the defenders 
of the parapet armed with three loaded muskets each, 
that their first fire should he as deadly as possible. 

The 4th and light divisions were to march against 
the breaches, well furnished with ladders and axes, 
preceded by storming parties of five hundred men, 
with their forlorn hopes. Major Wilson, of the 48th, 
was directed to storm San Roque, and to General 
Power was assigned the bridge head. 

The morning had been very clear, but, as night 
approached, clouds covered the horizon, as if to veil 
the bloody scenes of the night. Fog rose thick from 
the rivers over every object, thus rendering the dark- 
ness more complete. Unusual stillness prevailed, 
although low murmurs pervaded the trenches, and, 
on the ramparts, lights occasionally flitted here and 
there. Every few moments the deep-toned voices 
of the sentinels broke in upon our ears, proclaiming 
that " all was well in Badajos." 

The possession of this place had become a point 
of honor with the soldiers on both sides. Three times 
had the French seen their foes sit down before these 
almost impregnable walls. Twice had they been 



THE FINAL ASSAULT. 177 

obliged to retire, with heavy losses. The memory of 
these disasters, revenge for those who had fallen, 
hatred of their foes, and a strong desire for glory, 
now nerved each British arm for the contest ; while 
the honor of the French nation, the approval of their 
idolized emperor, and, more than all, the danger to 
which their families would be exposed in case of 
failure, combined with an equal thirst for glory, 
awakened all the ardent enthusiasm of the French. 

At ten o'clock a simultaneous assault was to be 
made on the castle, the San Roque, the breaches, the 
Pardaleras, San Vincente, and the bridge head, on 
the other side of the Guadiana. 

The enemy were, as yet, all unconscious of the 
design of our general, and the dark array of the 
British moved slowly and silently forward. Every 
heart was full; for, although now unusual quiet 
reigned, every one knew that it was but the prelude 
to that hour when death, in its most terrible and 
ghastly forms, would be dealt on every side. In one 
short half-hour the signal was to be given, — nay, 
even that little time was lost. A lighted carcass 
was thrown up from the castle, and fell at the very 
feet of the men in the third division, casting a lurid 
and glaring light for yards around. The wild shout 
of alarm, the hurried tones of the signal-bells, and 
the tumultuous rushing of the soldiers, proclaimed 
that our array was discovered. Not a moment was 
to be lost. " Forward, my men, forward !" passed 
from rank to rank. One wild, long, deafening shout, 



178 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

responded, and then the besiegers dashed onward. 
In a moment a circle of fire seemed to surround the 
doomed city. 

Our own division, under charge of General Kempt, 
had crossed the narrow plank that constituted the 
bridge over the BAvillas, under a heavy fire of 
musketry, and then, re-forming, ran hastily up the 
rugged hill, to the foot of the castle. Scarcely had 
we reached the walls, when our brave general fell, 
severely wounded. His faithful aids-de-camp car- 
ried him from the field; and, as they were passing 
to the trenches, he met General Picton, — who, hurt 
by a fall, and unprepared for the advance of the sig- 
nal, had been left in the camp, — hastening onward. 
A few hurried words passed between them, and 
General Picton ran on, to find his brave soldiers 
already ascending the heavy ladders they had placed 
against the castle walls. And well might those men 
be called brave, who dared attempt to ascend those 
ladders, in spite of the showers of heavy stones, logs 
of wood, and bursting shells, that rolled off the par- 
apet, — regardless, too, of that ceaseless roll of mus- 
ketry, that was telling with such fearful precision 
on their flanks, — forgetting, apparently, that, even 
should they live to reach the top, they could scarcely 
hope to survive the shock of that formidable front of 
pikes and bayonets that rose to meet them. Deafen- 
ing shouts echoed on every side, as the besieged 
endeavored to throw down those heavy ladders ; and 
these were answered hack by the groans of the dying, 



THE FINAL ASSAULT. 181 

and the shrieks of the soldiers that were crushed by 
their fall. Yet, not for a moment daunted, those 
behind sprang on to the remaining ladders, and strove 
which first should meet the death that seemed inev- 
itable. But their courage was fruitless. Every 
ladder was thrown down, and loud shouts of victory 
ran along the walls. But the British, though foiled, 
were not subdued. They fell back a few paces, and 
re-formed. Colonel Ridge then sprang forward, and, 
seizing a ladder, placed it against the lowest part of 
the castle wall, loudly calling to his men to follow. 
Officer Canch succeeded in placing another beside 
him, and in an instant they were fighting upon the 
ramparts. Ridge fell, pierced with a hundred wounds ; 
but, ere his assailants had time to strike again, those 
ladders had poured their living load into the castle, 
and, step by step, were its brave defenders forced, 
fighting, into the street. Here a reinforcement in- 
duced them to pause, and a hard-fought conflict 
ensued. But their assistants came too late, — the 
castle was ours. 

While these events were passing at the castle, 
more terrific, more maddening, if possible, was 
the contest at the breaches. Just as the firing at 
the castle commenced, two divisions reached the 
glacis. The flash of a single musket from the cov- 
ered way was the signal that the French were ready, 
and yet all was still and dark. Hay packs were 
thrown hastily into the ditches, and five hundred men 
sprang down the ladders, which were placed there, 



182 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

without any opposition. "Why was this ominous still- 
ness ? But the assailants had hardly time to ask, 
when a bright light shot up from the darkness, and 
revealed all the horrors of the scene. The ramparts 
were crowded with dark figures and glittering arms, 
while, below, the red columns of the British were 
rushing on, like streams of burning lava. A crash 
of thunder followed that bright light, and hundreds 
of shells and powder-barrels dashed the ill-fated 
stormers into a thousand atoms. One instant the 
light division paused, and then, as if maddened by 
that terrific sight, they flew down the ladders, or 
leaped into the gulf below. A blaze of musketry 
poured its dazzling light into the ditch, as the fourth 
division came up, and descended with equal fury. 
But the enemy had made, at the bottom of the ditch, 
a deep cut, which was filled with water. Into this 
snare the head of the division fell, and more than a 
hundred men were drowned. Those behind checked 
not an instant, but, turning to the left, came to an 
unfinished intrenchment, which they mistook for the 
breaches. It was covered in a moment; but, be- 
yond it, still lay a deep and wide chasm, between 
them and the ramparts they wished to gain. Con- 
fusion necessarily ensued, for the assailants still 
crowded on, until the ditch was full, and even then 
the press continued. Not for one moment ceased 
the roar of the musketry upon those crowded troops, 
and the loud shouts of the enemy, mingled with the 
din of bursting grenades and shells. The roaring 



THE FINAL ASSAULT. 183 

guns were answered back by the iron howitzers from 
the battery, while the horrid explosions of the 
powder-barrels, the whizzing flight of the blazing 
splinters, and the loud commands of the officers, 
increased the confusion. Through all this the great 
breach was at length reached, and the British trusted 
that the worst was over ; but, deep in those ruins, 
ponderous beams were set, and, firmly fixed on their 
top, glittered a terrible array of sword-blades, sharp- 
pointed and keen-edged, while ten feet before even 
that could be reached, the ascent was covered with 
loose planks, studded with sharp iron points, which 
penetrated the feet of the foremost, and sent them 
rolling back on the troops behind. 

Behind these sword-points, the shouting French- 
men stood rejoicing in their agony, and poured in 
their fire with ceaseless rapidity ; for every man had 
a number of muskets, and each one of these, beside 
the ordinary charge, was loaded with a cylinder of 
wood, full of leaden slugs, which scattered like hail, 
when discharged. Hundreds of men had fallen, and 
hundreds more were dropping ; but still the. heroic 
officers rushed on, and called for new trials. Yet, 
there glittered the sword-blades, firm, immovable ; 
and who might penetrate such a barrier ? Yet, so 
zealous were the men themselves, that those behind 
strove to push the forward ranks on to the blades, 
that they might thus themselves ascend on a bridge 
made of their bodies ; but they frustrated this attempt 
by dropping down, for none could tell who fell from 
16* 



184 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

choice, and who by the effect of that dreadful fire, 
and many who fell unhurt never rose again, crushed 
by the crowd. For a little while after the com- 
mencement of this terrible attack, military order was 
preserved ; but the tumult and noise was such, that 
no command could be distinctly heard; and the con- 
stant falling and struggling of the wounded, who 
sought to avoid being trampled upon, broke the 
formations, and order was impossible. Yet, officers 
of all stations would rush out, and, followed by their 
men, make a desperate assault on that glittering 
steel, and only fall back to swell the pile of dead 
and dying. Two hours were spent in these vain 
efforts, and then the remaining soldiers turned sadly 
and slowly away ; for they felt that the breach of 
the Trinidad was, indee.d, impregnable. An open- 
ing still remained in the curtain of the Santa Maria 
bastion, and to this they directed their steps ; but 
they found the approach to it impeded by deep holes 
and cuts, and their fearfully lessening numbers told 
how useless the attempt would be. Gathering in 
dark groups, they leaned despairingly on their mus- 
kets, and looked with sullen desperation at the 
ramparts of the Trinidad, where the enemy were 
seen, by the light of the fire-balls which they threw 
up, aiming their guns with fearful precision, and 
tauntingly asking, "Why they did not come into 
Badajos ? " And now, unwilling to be finally con- 
quered, Captains Nicholas and Shaw, with fifty men, 
collected from all regiments, made one more des 



THE FINAL ASSAULT. 185 

perate attempt to reach the Santa Maria breach. 
Already had they passed the deep cuts, and toiled 
over two-thirds of the dangerous ground, when a 
discharge of musketry levelled every man, except 
Shaw, to the earth. Nicholas, and a large propor- 
tion of the rest, were mortally wounded. 

After this, no further attempt was made ; and yet 
the soldiers would not retire, but remained passive 
and unflinching, under the fire of the enemy. It 
was now midnight. Already two thousand brave 
men had fallen, when Wellington, who was watch- 
ing the progress of the attack from a height close to 
the quarries, sent orders that the troops should retire 
and re-form for a second assault. But so great was 
the confusion, that many of the officers did not 
receive the orders, and so endeavored to prevent the 
soldiers from leaving, which occasioned many deaths. 

But the gallant defenders of Badajos, although 
successful at the breaches, found that there was no 
time to look icily on. The whole city was girdled by 
fire. The third division still maintained its ground 
at the castle ; the fifth were engaged at the Parda- 
leres, and on the right of the Guadiana, while Gen- 
eral Walker's brigade was escalading the bastion of 
San Vincente. This brigade had stolen silently 
along the banks of the river, the noise of its ripple 
having drowned the sound of their foot-steps until 
they reached the barrier gate. Just then the ex- 
plosion took place at the breaches ; and by its light 
the French sentinels discovered their assailants. In 



186 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

an instant, a sharp musketry was opened upon them. 
The Portuguese troops, panic-struck, threw down 
the scaling-ladders which had been intrusted to 
them ; but the British snatched them up, and reared 
them against the walls, which, in this place, were 
thirty feet high. Unfortunately, the ladders were too 
short, and this placed them in a most perilous and 
uncomfortable position. A small mine was sprung 
beneath their feet, adding its quota to the fearful 
number of the dead ; beams of wood and shells, 
fraught with living fire, were rolled upon their 
heads, while showers of grape from the flanks swept 
the ditch, dealing death-blows thick and fast on 
every side. But, fortunately for our troops, the rein- 
forcement to assist in the defence of the castle was 
just at this time called for, and a part of the walls 
lower than the rest was left unmanned. Three lad- 
ders were hastily placed here, but they were still too 
short. But British valor and ingenuity soon over- 
came this difficulty. A soldier, raised in the arms 
of his comrades, sprang to the top ; another followed. 
These drew their comrades after them, and soon, in 
spite of the constant fire which the French kept up, 
they ascended in such numbers, that they could not 
be driven back. Dividing, on their entrance, one- 
half entered the town, while the other, following the 
vamparts, attacked and won three bastions. Just as 
the last was yielding, General Walker fell, covered 
with wounds. A soldier, who stood near him, 
cried out, " A mine ! a mine ! " At that word, 



THE FINAL ASSAULT. 187 

those troops which had crossed the strong barrier, 
whom neither the deepness of the ditch nor the 
height of the wall could appal, who flinched not 
a moment at the deadly fire of the enemy, shrank 
Dack at a chimera of their own raising. Their 
opponents saw their advantage, and, making a firm 
and deadly charge, drove them from the ramparts. 
But, before the French had time to rejoice in their 
victory, a reserve, under Colonel Nugent, made its 
appearance, and the fleeing soldiers returned, and 
soon gained the field. 

The party who had entered the town at the first 
attack on San Vincente pursued their way through 
the streets. They met with no opposition, however. 
All was still and silent as the grave, and yet the 
streets were flooded with light, and every house 
illuminated. Sounding their bugles, they advanced 
to the great square of the town, but still met no 
enemy. All was bright and still, except that lo*w 
murmurs were heard from behind the lattices, and 
occasionally a shot was fired at them from under the 
doors. Hence, leaving the square, they repaired to 
the breaches, and attempted to surprise the garrison, 
by attacking them in their rear. But they found 
them on the alert, and were soon obliged to return 
to the streets. But the English were now pouring 
in on every side, and the brave defenders of the 
ramparts and the breaches turned to defend their 
homes. A short and desultory fight followed. 
Generals Viellande and Phillipon, brave and deter- 



188 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

mined to the last, were both wounded ; and, gradually 
falling back, they retreated, with a few hundred 
soldiers, to San Christoval, where they surrendered to 
Lord Fitzroy Somerset. Then loud shouts of 
victory! victory! resounded through the streets, and 
found its joyful echo in many hearts. 

During this siege, five thousand men and officers 
had fallen ; thirty-five hundred having lost their 
lives the night of the assault, — twenty-four hundred 
at the breaches alone. If any one would picture to 
himself the terrible scenes that occured at this spot, 
let him imagine a lot of less than a hundred square 
yards, which, in the short space of little more than 
two hours, was deluged by the blood of twenty- 
four hundred men. Nor did all these fall by sudden 
death. Some perished by steel, some by shot, some 
were drowned, some crushed and mangled by heavy 
weights, others trampled down by the crowd, and 
hundreds dashed to pieces by the fiery explosions ; 
and all this occurred where the only light was the 
intense glare of the explosions, and the lurid flame 
of the burning dead, which came to mingle its hor- 
rible stench with the sickening odors of the gun- 
powder, and the nauseous smells of the exploding, 
shells. Here, too, the groans of the wounded were 
echoed back by the shrieks of the dying ; and, ever 
and anon, between the roar of the artillery and the 
thunder of the bursting shells, were heard the bitter 
taunts of the enemy. Let any one imagine all this, 
I say, and they may have some faint ideas of the 



SACK OF THE CITY. 189 

horrors of war. Yet, dreadful as this is, could the 
veil but drop here, the soldier's heart might still 
throb with pride, as he recounted the hard-fought 
battle, where valor stood preeminent, and none 
yielded, but to death, until the victory was won. 
But there is still another dark and revolting page, 
which, in a history like this, designed to paint the 
horrors as well as the glories of war, it were not well 
to omit. I refer to the scenes which followed the 
victory, when Baclajos lay at the mercy of its con- 
quering foe. If there is one feature of war more 
repulsive than another, one from which every good 
feeling of the heart shrinks back appalled, it is from 
the scene which invariably follows, when permission 
is given to sack and plunder a conquered city. All 
restraint is laid aside. Men's passions, wound up 
almost to frenzy by the exciting and maddening 
scenes through which they have passed, will have a 
vent ; and no sorrow is too holy, no place too 
sacred, to shield its occupant from the storm. Our 
men scattered themselves through the city, all with 
liberty to do what they pleased, to take what they 
wanted. Houses were broken open, and robbed. 
If any resistance was made, death was the certain 
penalty ; and often death in such a form that a 
soldier's fate would have been mercy. All, it is 
true, were not alike. In such an army there are 
always brave men, who, even in such an hour, would 
scorn to commit a dishonorable action, and these 
seconded the attempts of our officers to preserve at 



190 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

least a semblance of order ; but they were too few 
to accomplish much. All the dreadful passions of 
human nature were excited, and they would have 
way. Many lost their lives in vain attempts to check 
the cruelty and lust and drunkenness of their own 
soldiers. For two days and nights Badajos re- 
sounded with the shrieks and piteous lamentations 
of her defenceless victims, with groans and shouts 
and imprecations, varied by the hissing of fires from 
houses first plundered, then destroyed, the crashing 
of doors and windows, and the almost ceaseless re- 
port of muskets used in violence. It was not until 
the third day that the soldiers, exhausted by their 
own excesses, could be collected in sufficient num- 
bers to bury the dead of their own regiments, while 
many of the wounded perished solely from want of 
necessary care. I had imagined that the miseries 
of intemperance were no unfamiliar sight to me ; yet 
never before, or since, has it been my lot to meet the 
madness which characterized the eager search for 
liquor, on every side. An instance that occurred in 
our own regiment, I will relate. Several of our 
men, and among them some that I had known in 
Ireland, and should never have suspected of such 
conduct, broke into a cellar where was stored a large 
quantity of wine. There were many casks, and some 
of them contained wine that bore the brand of scores 
of years. They tore down the doors for tables, and 
commenced their mad feast. Bottles half- emptied 
were thrown across the cellar, and what would have 



A DISCOVERY. 191 

sufficed a regiment for months, was recklessly poured 
upon the floor. Unconscious, or not caring what they 
did, they stopped not to draw the wine, but, knocking 
in the head of the casks, proceeded to try their va- 
rious qualities. At length, overcome by intoxication, 
they sank upon the floor, and paid the penalty of 
their rashness with their lives ; for, when a diligent 
search was made for absentees, they were discovered 
actually drowned in the wine. Many were burned 
to death in houses which they themselves had fired. 
For my own part, I had been fortunate enough to 
pass through all the horrors of the siege, and the 
bloody scenes of the assault, unhurt. Excitement 
had rendered me reckless of danger, and I hurried 
on, scarce knowing where I was or what I did. 
Now that this had passed, I felt exhausted and 
weary, and very thirsty. My comrade and myself 
resolved that our first search should be for something 
to drink. We hurried on, until we reached a large 
store, where we thought we should find some liquor. 
The fastenings of the outer door soon yielded to our 
efforts, but the door to the cellar we found it impos- 
sible to open or break down. Just at this moment, 
a band of pioneers happened to be passing, who 
always carry with them huge hatchets. We called 
to them, and, with their assistance, soon made our 
way to the cellar. But here a great disappointment 
awaited us. We found no liquor, but only two 
tiers of firkins, used for holding butter. One of our 
men, in anger, struck his hatchet into one of them, 
17 



192 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 



when, to our great surprise, out rolled whole handfuls 
of doubloons. We then struck the heads of the 
firkins with the butt-ends of our muskets, but could 
not break them. The hatchets, however, soon com- 
pleted the work. When the heads were knocked 
out, the money was so firmly pressed together that 
it came out in one solid mass. Each one of us then 
took what we pleased. I placed three handsful in 
my comrade's knapsack, and he did the same by me. 
I then filled my haversack, and even my stockings, 
with the precious treasure. Part of our company 
remained as guard, while the rest went to report to 
our commander the discovery we had made. I soon 
found that I had stored more money than I was able 
to carry, so I threw a part of it in an old well. Our 
commander immediately sent a detachment of men to 
empty the cellar, and they brought away no less than 
eight mules' burden of gold. I cannot now recall its 
exact amount, but such was its value that our officers 
determined to send it to Brussels, when the army 
should leave Badajos. 

We take the following description of the scenes to 
which we have above referred from an eye-witness. 
He says : "It has been the practice of modern his- 
torians to describe, in the glowing language of exag- 
gerated eulogy, every act done by the British and 
their allies, while their pens have been equally busy 
in vilifying and defaming all who were opposed to 
them. Perhaps there is no circumstance to which 
this applies with more force than the description 



ATROCIOUS CONDUCT OF THE VICTORS. 193 

usually given of the conduct of the British armies 
and their allies after the taking of Badajos. While 
their gallantry is praised to the utmost, their evil 
deeds are left to find the light as they may ; but 
' foul deeds will rise, though all the earth overwhelm 
them.' Before six o'clock on the morning of the 7th 
of April, all organization among the assaulting col- 
umns had ceased, and a scene of plunder and cru- 
elty that it would be difficult to find a parallel for 
took place. The army, so orderly the preceding day, 
— so effective in its organizations, — seemed all at 
once transformed into a vast band of brigands. The 
horde of Spaniards, as well as Portuguese women and 
men, that now eagerly sought for admission to plan 
der, augmented the number of this band to what the 
army had been before the battle ; and twenty thou- 
sand persons, armed with all power to act as they 
thought fit, and almost all armed with weapons 
which could be used at the pleasure of the bearers, 
for the purpose of enforcing any wish they might 
seek to gratify, were let loose upon this devoted city. 
Subject to no. power of control from others, intoxica- 
tion caused them to lose all restraint on themselves. 
If the reader can for a moment fancy a fine city, con- 
taining an immense population, among which may be 
reckoned a proportion of the finest women Spain, or 
perhaps the world, can boast of, — if he could fancy 
that population and these women left to the mercy 
of twenty thousand infuriated and licentious soldiers, 
for two days and two nights, he can well imagine 



194 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

the honors enacted in Badajos. Wine and spirit 
stores were first forced open, and casks of the choicest 
wines and brandy dragged into the streets ; and, when 
the men had drank as much as they fancied, the heads 
of the vessels were stove in, or the casks broken, so 
that the liquor ran about in streams. In the town 
were large numbers of animals, — sheep, oxen, and 
horses, — belonging to the garrison. These were 
among the first things taken possession of ; and the 
wealthy occupier of many a house was glad to be 
allowed the employment of conducting them to our 
camp, as, by so doing, he got away from a place 
where his life was not worth a minute's purchase. 
Terrible as was this scene, it was not possible to avoid 
occasionally laughing ; for the conducteur was gener- 
ally not only compelled to drive a herd of cattle, but 
also obliged to carry the bales of plunder taken by 
his employer perhaps from his own house. And the 
stately gravity with which the Spaniard went through 
his work, dressed in short breeches, frilled shirt, and 
a hat and plumes, followed by our ragamuffin soldiers 
with fixed bayonets, presented a scene that Cruik- 
shank himself would have been puzzled to delineate 
justly. The plunder so captured was deposited under 
a guard composed principally of soldiers' wives. A 
few hours were sufficient to despoil the shops of their 
property. Night then closed in, and then a scene 
took place that pen would fail to describe. Insult 
and infamy, fiendish acts of violence and open-handed 
cruelty, everywhere prevailed. Age, as well as youth, 



TERRIBLE DISORDER. 195 

was alike unrespected, and perhaps not one house, 
and scarcely a person, in this vast town, escaped in- 
jury. War is a terrible engine, and when once set 
in motion, it is not possible to calculate when or where 
it will stop. 

" The 8th of April was a fearful clay for the in- 
habitants. The soldiers had become so reckless that 
no person's life, of whatever sex, rank, or station, was 
safe. If they entered a house that had not been de- 
spoiled of its furniture and wines, they were at once 
destroyed. If it was empty, they fired at the win- 
dows, or at the inmates, or often at each other. Then 
they would sally into the streets, and amuse them- 
selves by firing at the church bells in the steeples, or 
at any one who might be passing. Many of the sol- 
diers were killed, while carrying away their plunder, 
by the hands of those who, a few hours before, would 
have risked their own lives to protect them. Hun- 
dreds of these fellows took possession of the best 
warehouses, and acted as merchants ; these were 
ejected by a stronger party, who, after a fearful 
strife, would displace them, only themselves to give 
place to others, with terrible loss of life. To put a 
stop to such a frightful scene, it Was necessary to use 
some forbearance, as well as severity; for, to have 
punished all who were guilty would have been to 
decimate the army. In the first instance, parties 
from those regiments that had least participated in 
the combat were ordered into the town to collect the 
hordes of stragglers, that filled the streets with crimes 
17* 



196 EITEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1812. 

too horrible to detail ; and, when this measure was 
found inadequate, a brigade of troops were marched 
into the city, and were directed to stand by their 
arms, while any marauders remained. Gibbets and 
triangles were erected, and many of the men were 
flogged. A few hours so employed were sufficient 
to purge the town of the robbers that still lurked in 
the streets, many of whom were Spaniards and Por- 
tuguese, not connected with the army, and infinitely 
worse than our troops. Towards evening tranquillity 
began to return ; but it was a fearful quiet, and 
might be likened to a ship at sea, which, after having 
been plundered and dismasted by pirates, should be 
left floating on the ocean, without a morsel of food 
to supply the wants of its crew, or a stitch of canvas 
to cover its naked masts. By degrees, however, the 
inhabitants returned, and families left alive again 
became reunited ; yet there was scarce a family that 
did not mourn its dead." 

The same writer says : " Early on the morning of 
the 9th of April, a great concourse of Spaniards, 
from the neighboring villages, thronged our lines. 
They came to purchase the booty captured by our 
men ; and each succeeding hour increased the supply 
of their wants, numerous and varied as they were, 
and our camp had the appearance of a vast market. 
Some of the soldiers realized upwards of one thou- 
sand dollars from the sale, and almost all gained 
handsomely by an enterprise in which they had dis- 
played so much devotion and bravery ; and it is only 



WELLINGTON STILL AT BADAJOS. 197 

to be lamented that they tarnished laurels so nobly 
won, by traits of barbarity which, for the sake of 
human nature, we hope have not often found a par- 
allel." 

It was not until order was in some measure re- 
stored that the wounded and dead could be attended 
to ; but now graves were dug, and the mangled 
remains, so lately full of life and activity, burning 
with high hopes and fond anticipations, were laid 
away, adding their numbers to the vast pile of vic- 
tims sacrificed to that Moloch — war. It is said that 
when Wellington learned the number of the fallen, 
and the extent of his loss in the death of those brave 
men, a passionate burst of tears told how much he 
was affected by it. 

For a few days Wellington lingered near Badajos, 
hoping that Soult, to whom Phillipon had sent the 
fatal news even in the confusion of his surrender, 
would be tempted from his intrenchments to risk a 
battle with the allies, while the troops were flushed 
with victory. But this general, although feeling 
deeply the loss of one of his most impregnable for- 
tresses, found himself too much occupied with the 
other division of the allied army to venture on such 
a course. 

It was Wellington's intention, in case this battle 
did not take place, to proceed immediately to Anda- 
lusia ; but, learning that the Spanish general had 
failed to garrison the fortresses already taken in a 
suitable manner, he was obliged to alter his own 



198 EUROPE AT^D THE ALLIES, 1812. 

course of action, in order to secure former conquests. 
"While lie remained here, his time was busily occupied 
in repairing the breaches, in levelling the trenches, and 
restoring the injured fortifications. This being done, he 
placed here, as a garrison, two regiments of Portuguese, 
and marched himself, with the main body of his troops, 
upon Beira. 

Before the victorious army of the Allies left Badajos, 
"Wellington determined to send a convoy to Brussels, 
with the treasure and spoils found in that place. The 
regiments selected to form this convoy were the 28th, 
80th, 87th and 43d. We were to leave Badajos and pass 
through the northern part of Spain, by the romantic 
gorge of Eoncesvalles to St. Jean Pied de Port in Prance, 
and from this place take the most direct course to Brus- 
sels. The day before our army was to leave for Beira 
was the day selected for our march. Our farewell words 
were soon spoken, and we were on our way. 

No incident of particular interest occurred in our route, 
and we found ourselves on the 3d of June in safety in 
Brussels, where we remained in garrison- until that great 
battle which decided the fate of Europe, and sent the 
French Emperor to his lonely home on the barren rock 
of St. Helena. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Brief Summary of Events for Four Years preceding the Battle of Waterloo. 
— Author's Narrative resumed at that Period. — Preparation of Troopg 
for the Battle. — Skirmishing preceding its Commencement. — Recep- 
tion of the News at Brussels. — Departure of the English for the Field 
of Battle. — Disposition of the Forces. — Attack upon Hougomont. — 
Progress of the Battle. — Arrival of the Prussian Reinforcements. — 
Charge of the Old Guard. — Flight of the French. 



These four years thus spent to me were days of 
quiet, unmarked by aught that would interest my 
readers ; but four years more eventful, more fraught 
with heavy consequences of good or ill to Europe, 
have seldom — perhaps never — been numbered in her 
eventful history. The victorious banners of France 
were waving on every battle-field on the continent. 
Wagram and Jena, Austerlitz and Friedland, echoed 
back the glory of the conqueror's name ; and kings 
and emperors, in whose veins flowed the blood of the 
Csesars, had esteemed it an honor to claim alliance 
with the plebeian child of Corsica. But the Russian 
bear and the English lion had not yet yielded to his 
claims ; and, gathering his vast and victorious armies, 
he led them to face a sterner enemy and a more 
subtle foe than they had ever yet contested. Half 
a million of men, firm and confident in their own 
resources, had crossed the Memen under Bonaparte's 
approving eye. A few months later, and the rem 
nant of that scattered army, in rags, wan and ghastly, 



200 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

staggered, like a band of spectres, over that same 
river. No human might had struck them down ; but 
the ice of winter and the deep snows of the north, 
which the fur-clad Russian glories in, had been the 
signal of death to the light-hearted child of vine-clad 
France. He who had left France at the head of 
such glorious armies had returned to his capital 
alone with his own brave heart and iron courage, to 
find there that the arms and gold of the allies had 
done their work. 

From Spain, the French had retreated step by 
step. Ferdinand, soiled, even in his youth, with 
flagrant crimes, had returned amid rejoicings and 
banquets to his capital, to sink still deeper in shame 
and contempt the Bourbon name, and to reward with 
dungeons and tears and blood the brave hearts that 
had struggled so long and nobly for his kingdom. 
Joseph had fled before him on foot, scarcely escaping 
with his life from that kingdom, which might, indeed, 
have taken a glorious place among the nations, had 
he had the courage or ability to carry out, in the 
spirit that dictated them, the great and far-seeing 
plans of his brother. On every side the nations 
turned their arms against the falling emperor, until, 
at length, he who had disposed in his palace of the 
thrones of Europe had only left one small island, 
which must have seemed to him but a child's bauble, 
in view of the past. He would not rest here, and 
the events of the hundred days had roused again the 
world to arms. The prestige of his name had won 



Bonaparte's address before Waterloo. 201 

back the allegiance of the French, and thousands 
had, as in days of yore, collected around his stand- 
ard. The battle which should decide the fate of 
Europe drew on. France stood alone, on the one 
side, with her veteran troops, and her memories of 
glorious victories, and, more than all, her emperor ; 
and on the other were the united forces of England 
and the continent. Napoleon was confident of vic- 
tory. On the 14th of June, in his own resistless 
eloquence, he thus addressed his army, the last he was 
ever destined to command : — " Soldiers, this day is 
the anniversary of Marengo and Friedland, which 
twice decided the destiny of Europe. Then, as after 
the battle of Austerlitz, as after the battle of Wa- 
gram, we were too generous. "We believed in the 
oaths and protestations of princes, whom we left on 
their thrones. Now, however, leagued together, they 
aim at the independence and the most sacred rights 
of France. They have committed the most unjust 
aggressions. Let us, then, march and meet them. 
Are not we and they still the same men ? Soldiers, 
at Jena, against these same Prussians, now so arro- 
gant, you were one to three ; and at Montmirail, one 
to six. Let those among you who have been cap- 
tives to the English describe the nature of their 
prison-ships, and the horrible sufferings they endured. 
The Saxons, the Belgians, the Hanoverians, the 
soldiers of the Confederation of the Rhine, lament 
that they are obliged to use their arms in the cause 
of princes who are the enemies of justice and the 



202 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

rights of all nations. They know that this coalition ia 
insatiable. After having devoured twelve millions of 
Poles, twelve millions of Italians, one million of Sax- 
ons, and six millions of Belgians, it now wishes to 
devour the states of the second rank in Germany. 

"Madmen! a moment of prosperity has bewil- 
dered them ! The oppression and humiliation of the 
French people are beyond their reach ; if they enter 
France, they will find their tomb there ! Soldiers, 
we have forced marches to make, battles to fight, 
and dangers to encounter; but, if we are firm, victory 
will be ours. The rights, the honor, the happiness 
of the country, will be recovered. To every French- 
man who has a heart, the moment is now arrived 
when he should either conquer or die." 

The plan which Napoleon had laid down was, by a 
rapid advance, to force his way between the armies 
of Wellington and Blucher combined, — to attack one 
with the mass of his forces, while he detached troops 
to keep the other in check. Let us now turn our 
attention to the allies. 

They had combined their whole strength, at and 
near Brussels. The army of Blucher, at this time, 
numbered about one hundred thousand men. These 
occupied Charleroi, Namur, Givet and Liege. The 
headquarters of the Anglo-Belgian army, under 
Wellington, were at Brussels. This army numbered 
seventy-six thousand men ; but thirty-five thousand 
of these, however, were English, the flower of the 
Peninsular army having been sent to America. The 



SKIRMISHES BEFORE THE BATTLE. 203 

remainder were Hanoverians, Dutch and Belgians. 
The right of the Prussian army communicated with 
the left of the English ; their commanders having so 
arranged their troops, that wherever the attack of the 
French should be made, they might support each 
other. They could not doubt that Napoleon's mark 
was Brussels, but as yet it had been impossible for 
them to learn by which of the four great routes he in- 
tended to force his passage. Several prisoners had 
been taken, but these either could not or would not 
communicate the intelligence our commander was so 
desirous to obtain. On the morning of the 15th, 
however, the movements of the French unfolded 
their designs. Their second corps crossed the Sam- 
bre, and drove in Zeither's out-posts, who fell back 
on Fleurus to concentrate with the Prussian corps. 
They were hastily followed by the French army. 
The emperor's purpose was then to crush Blucher, 
before he could concentrate his own forces, much less 
be assisted by the troops under Wellington. Imme- 
diately Zeither, who had the command at Charleroi, 
sent out despatches to all the commanders of 
Blucher's army, summoning them to his aid. Then 
gallantly marshalling the men who were under his 
command, they held their ground bravely, though 
with great loss, until, finding it impossible longer to 
withstand, they fell back in good order, on a position 
betwee.i Ligny and Armancl, where Blucher now 
awaited Napoleon's attack, at the head of his whole 
army. Though the emperor's plan of beating the 
18 



204 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

Prussian army in detail had failed, he might still 
prevent the conjunction of his forces with Welling- 
ton's. He continued his march, therefore, on the 
main road to Brussels from ChaiieroL At Frasnes, 
some Nassau troops had been stationed. These 
were, however, obliged to retire before the French, 
who followed them as far as Quatre Bras, or four 
arms, — a farm, so called because the roads from Char- 
leroi to Brussels, and from Namur to Nivelles, here 
cross each other. Here the French halted for the 
night. 

Lord Wellington, as I have said, held his head- 
quarters at Brussels. Not a rumor of Napoleon's 
onward movement had, as yet, reached him. That 
gay city presented many attractions to our gallant 
officers, and festivals and parties had followed each 
other in quick succession. On that very night the 
Duchess of Kichmond gave a splendid ball, and it 
was as gayly attended by the British officers as if the 
French had been on the Seine, instead of the Surn- 
bre. Wellington himself was there. Sir Thomas 
Picton, too, our own brave commander in the Penin- 
sular campaign, who had but that day arrived from 
England, also met his brother officers in this festal 
scene. The festivities were at their height, when 
an officer in splashed and spattered uniform pre- 
sented himself at the door, and asking for the duke, 
communicated to him the startling intelligence. For 
some moments the iron duke remained in deep reflec- 
tion, his countenance showing a resolution already 



BRUSSELS ON THE EVE OF THE BATTLE. 205 

taken. Then, in a low and steady voice, he gave a 
few directions to a staff-officer, and again mingled 
in the festivities of the hour. But, before the ball 
was ended, the strains of courtly music were drowned 
in the louder notes of preparation. . The drum had 
beat to arms, and the bugle summoned the assembly, 
while the Highland bagpipe added its wild and 
martial call to the field. All were soon prepared 
and under arms, and the fifth division filed from the 
park with the Brunswick corps, and directed their 
course to the forest of Soignes. 

Three o'clock pealed from the steeple-bells. All 
was now quiet ; the brigades, with their artillery and 
equipage, were gone, the crash of music was heard 
no longer, the bustle of preparation had ceased, 
and an ominous and heart-sinking silence succeeded 
the noise and hurry ever attendant on a departure 
for the field of battle. 

These incidents have been so beautifully described 
by Byron, that we cannot resist the temptation to 
quote the passage : 

" There was a sound of revelry by night, 
And Belgium's capital had gathered then, 
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright 
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men. 
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when 
Music ax-ose with its voluptuous swell, 
Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, 
And all went merry as a marriage bell. 
But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising knelL 

" Did you not hear it ? No ! 'twas but the wind, 
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street; 



206 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

On with the dance let joy be unconfmed ! 

No sleep till morn, -when youth and pleasure meet, 

To chase the glowing hours with flying feet ! 

But hark ! that heavy sound breaks in once more, — 

As if the clouds its echo would repeat, — 

And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before. 

Arm ! arm ! it is, it is the cannon's opening roar ! 

" Ah ! then, and there was hurrying to and fro, 
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, 
And cheeks all pale, which, but an hour ago, 
Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness. 
And there were sudden partings, such as press 
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs, 
Which ne'er might be repeated ; — who could gues3 
If evermore should meet those mutual eyes, 
Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise ! " 

By two o'clock the Duke of Wellington had left 
Brussels, and before light he reached Bry, at which 
place Blucher was stopping, and there the plan of 
the day was agreed upon. Napoleon resolved, with 
his own troops, to attack the Prussian army, 
because that had concentrated all its strength, while 
forty-five thousand men, under Ney, w T ere to give 
battle to the English. At early dawn, on the 16th, 
hostilities were renewed. The morning, however, 
was occupied in slight skirmishes, in which the 
soldiers in both armies showed their bravery. The 
main contest between the English and the French 
commenced about three in the afternoon. The 
French were drawn up among growing corn, so high 
as nearly to conceal them from sight. The seventy- 
ninth and forty-second regiments were thus taken by 
surprise, and nearly destroyed. Out of eight hundred 
men, but ninety-six privates and four officers 



THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE. 207 

escaped. At night the English general had posses- 
sion of Quatre Bras. The number of killed and 
wounded on the side of the allies was five thousand. 
Blucher fought as stern a battle, but with less suc- 
cess. He had eighty thousand men, while Napoleon 
was opposed to him with ninety thousand. The 
French and Prussians felt for each other a morta, 
hatred, and little quarter was either asked or given. 
When the night of the 16th closed around them, 
thirty-five thousand men were left on the field of 
battle, — twenty thousand of the Prussians, and fifteen 
thousand French. Blucher had been forced to retire 
in the direction of Wavre, and so skilfully were his 
movements made that it was noon on the 17th before 
Napoleon discovered his retreat. As soon as Wel- 
lington learned that Blucher had retreated, he gave 
orders to fall back from Quatre Bras to the field of 
Waterloo, xl heavy rain had fallen all day, and 
made the roads almost impassable with mud. The 
English soldiers were wearied with their day's labor, 
and discouraged by the command to retreat ; but 
their spirits revived when, on reaching their bivouac 
for the night, they were informed that the battle 
should be given on the next day. We found little 
comfort, however, in our night's position ; for, as the 
darkness closed in, the rain fell in torrents, and was 
accompanied by heavy thunder. 

The soldiers themselves, although no temptation 
would have been strong enough to have induced them 
to turn away from the morrow's battle, still could not 
18* 



208 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

but feel the solemnity of the hour. Thousands of 
those who had bivouacked with them the preceding 
night, in health arid spirits, were now cold and life- 
less on the field of battle. The morrow's action could 
not be less severe, and in such an hour it was not in 
human nature to be entirely unmindful of home and 
friends, whom it was more than probable we should 
never see again. For my own part, my thoughts 
reverted to my dear parents, and I could not but 
remember that, had I not disregarded their wishes, I 
should now have been in safety with them. My 
disobedience appeared to me in a very different light 
from what it had formerly done ; but I resolved to 
conceal my feelings from every one. I was just 
endeavoring to compose myself to sleep, when my 
comrade spoke to me, saying that it was deeply im- 
pressed on his mind that he should not survive the 
morrow ; and that he wished to make an arrangement 
with me, that if he should die and I should survive, I 
should inform his friends of the circumstances of his 
death, and that he would do the same for me, in case 
he should be the survivor. We then exchanged the 
last letters we had received from home, so that each 
should have the address of the other's parents. I 
endeavored to conceal my own feelings, and cheer 
his, by reminding him that it was far better to die 
on the field of glory than from fear ; but he turned 
away from me, and, with a burst of tears, that spoke 
the deep feelings of his heart, he said, "My mother!" 
The familiar sound of this precious name, and tho 



ORDER OF BATTLE. 209 

sight of his sorrow, completely overcame my attempts 
at concealment, and we wept together. Perhaps I 
may as well mention here, that we had not been in 
the action twenty-five minutes when he was shot 
down by my side. After my return to England, I 
visited his parents, and informed them of the circum- 
stances of his death; and I can assure my readers 
that it was a painful task. We were not alone in 
our sad feelings. The fierce contest of the elements, 
the discomforts of our position, and the deep gloom 
which covered every object, all served to deepen in 
every heart those feelings which, I venture to say, 
even the bravest will experience in the stillness and 
silence of a night preceding a battle. 

With the early dawn of morning all the troops 
were in motion. Wellington was to commence the 
action, while Blucher, with all his army, with the 
exception of a single corps left to contend with Mar- 
shal Grouchy, marched to support him. 

Our troops were drawn up before the village of 
Mont St. Jean, about a mile and a half from the 
small town of Waterloo, on a rising ground, which 
descended, by a gentle declivity, to a plain a mile in 
breadth, beyond which rose the opposite heights of 
La Belle Alliance. The first line was composed of 
those troops on whose discipline and spirit the duke 
could most rely. These were the British, three corps 
of Hanoverians and Belgians, and the men of Bruns- 
wick and Nassau. The second line consisted of 
those whose courage and bravery were more doubt- 



210 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

ful, and those regiments that had suffered most 
severely the preceding day. Behind both of these 
lay the horse. Four roads crossed each other in this 
position, affording great facilities for the movements 
of the armies. It included, also, the chateau and 
houses of Hougomont, and the farm-house and en- 
closures of La Haye Sainte, which were very strongly 
occupied, and formed important outworks of defence. 
The whole front of the British army extended, in all, 
about a mile. 

The army of the French, meanwhile, had been 
marching all night, and many of them did not reach 
the heights of La Belle Alliance until late on the 
morning of the 18th. Napoleon had feared that the 
English would continue their retreat to Brussels. 
It was, therefore, with much pleasure that he saw 
them drawn up on the opposite heights. "At last, 
then," said he, " at last I have these English in my 
grasp." Eighty thousand French soldiers were seen 
moving, in close massive columns, on the crest of the 
height, as they took up their several positions for the 
day. When all was arranged, Bonaparte rode along 
the lines, reviewing his troops ; and when he had fin- 
ished, and turned to ride away, a loud shout of 
"Vive l'Enipereur" rolled after him, which shook 
the field on which they stood. He then ascended an 
observatory, a little in the rear, where he could over- 
look both lines, and from this point directed the 
battle. It was an eventful hour in the history of 
this great man ; and he felt, as did also his troops, 



ATTACK AT HOUGOMONT. 211 

how much depended on the issue of the clay. Vic- 
tory alone would give the courage necessary to send 
out reinforcements from a country where scarcely 
any were left but old men and youth. Defeat would 
be decisive of the emperor's fate. These thoughts 
nerved the hearts of the French, and they fought 
with unexampled impetuosity. 

About ten o'clock the action was commenced, by 
an attack upon the gardens and wood of Hougomont. 
They were particularly anxious to gain this post, as 
it commanded a large part of the British position. 
It was furiously and incessantly assailed by the 
French, and as gallantly defended by the English, 
under General Byng. The French pushed up to the 
very walls of the chateau, and thrust their bayonets 
through the door; but the Coldstream Guards held 
the court-yard with invincible obstinacy, and the 
enemy were at length compelled to retire, leaving 
fourteen hundred men in a little orchard, beside the 
walls, where it does not seem so many could be laid. 
Every tree in the wood was pierced with balls, their 
branches broken and destroyed, and the chateau 
itself set on fire by the shells. Travellers inform us 
that the strokes which proved so fatal to human life 
have not affected the trees; for, though the holes 
still remain, their verdure is as beautiful as ever. 
Beneath those trees, and in the forsaken garden, 
flowers continue to bloom. The rose-trees and the 
vines, crushed and torn in the struggle, have flowered 
in new beauty, and offer a strong contrast to the 



212 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

piles of bones, broken swords, and shattered helmets, 
that lay scattered among them. 

When Napoleon saw that he had failed in taking 
Hougomont, he strengthened his attack upon the 
main lines. Most of the British had been drawn up 
in squares, not quite solid, but several files deep, and 
arranged like the squares on a chess-board ; so that, 
if any of the enemy's cavalry should push between 
the divisions, they could be attacked in the rear, as 
well as in front. "When, therefore, the French ar- 
tillery opened upon them, and whole ranks were 
mowed down, the chasms were instantly filled, and 
not a foot of ground lost. But such was the impetu- 
osity of the French onset, that the light troops, drawn 
up in front of these squares, were driven in, and the 
cavalry, which should have supported them, fled on 
every side. The Brunswick infantry now opened 
their fire upon the French cavalry, with a coolness 
and intrepidity that made dreadful gaps in their 
squadrons, and strewed the ground with men and 
horses that were advancing to the charge. But the 
courage of the French did not desert them. Their 
artillery played, at the distance of one hundred and 
fifty yards, on the British squares, with dreadful 
execution. Their object was to push back the right 
wing of the British, and establish themselves on the 
Mvelles road. But the courage of their opponents 
rendered these efforts unavailing; and the struggle 
here at length subsided, to rage with greater fury in 
other parts of the field. A strong body of French 



PROGRESS OF THE BATTLE. 213 

infantry advanced, without firing a shot, to the po- 
sition occupied by Sir Thomas Picton and Kempt. 
They had gained the heights, when Sir Thomas, 
forming his division into a solid square, advanced to 
the charge with such effect, that, after firing one 
volley, the French retreated. That volley, however, 
proved fatal to our brave commander. A musket 
ball struck him in the temple, and he expired with- 
out a struggle. After his fall, it was ascertained 
that he had been wounded on the 16th, but had care- 
fully concealed it from every one but his servant. 
His wound, for want of surgical assistance, had 
assumed a very serious aspect. 

Again the French pressed on, and, attacking the 
Highland division, drove them back in great dis- 
order. But the brigade of heavy cavalry now came 
to their assistance, and again the assailants fell back. 
A column, two thousand strong, bore down upon 
the 92d regiment, which immediately formed itself 
into a line, and, charging on the foe, broke their 
centre. The French were now reinforced by their 
cavalry, and the British by the brigade of heavy 
dragoons. A contest then ensued which has hardly 
a parallel in modern warfare. The determined valor 
of the British, however, conquered, and the French 
retired behind their infantry. It was at this time 
that Sir William Ponsonby was killed. He led his 
brigade against the Polish lancers, and took two 
hundred prisoners ; but, riding on in advance of his 
troops, he entered a newly-ploughed field, when his 



214 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

horse stuck in the mire, and he found it impossible 
to proceed. At this instant, a body of lancers rode 
up. Sir William saw that his fate was inevitable. 
He took out his watch and a picture, and desired 
some one near to send them to his wife. A moment 
after, he fell, pierced with seven lance wounds. 

At the farm of La Haye Sainte, the French suc- 
ceeded in cutting oiF the communication of the Ger- 
man troops stationed there, and put them all to the 
bayonet. Here they maintained their position, until 
the final attack in the evening. The combat now 
raged with unabated fury. Every inch of ground 
was disputed on both sides, and neither gave way 
until every means of resistance was exhausted. The 
field of battle was heaped with the dead ; and yet the 
attack grew more impetuous, and the resistance more 
obstinate. The continued reverberations of more 
than six hundred pieces of artillery, the fire of the 
light troops, the frequent explosions of caissons blown 
up by shells, the hissing of balls, the clash of arms, 
the roar of the charges, and the shouts of the sol- 
diery, produced a commingling of sounds whose 
effect it would be impossible to describe. Still, the 
contest raged on. After the advantage gained at 
La Haye Sainte, Napoleon threw the masses of both 
infantry and cavalry upon the British centre, which 
was now exposed. The first battalions gave way 
under their impetuous attack, and the French cav- 
alry rushed on to carry the guns on the plains. An 
English ambuscade ran to receive them. The slaugh- 



PROGRESS OF THE BATTLE. 215 

ter was horrible. Neither party yielded a step. 
Three times the French were on the point of forcing 
their position, and three times they were driven back. 
They cut to pieces the battalions of the English, who 
were slow or unskilful in their movements, but could 
make no impression on the squares. In vain were 
their repeated attacks. They were repulsed, with the 
most sanguinary fury. 

Napoleon now advanced the whole centre of his 
infantry, to assist the cavalry. They pressed on with 
an enthusiasm that overpowered all resistance, and, 
for the moment, carried all before them. It was at 
this critical period that our noble commander showed 
himself worthy of a nation' s honor. Everywhere in the 
thickest of the fight, he was seen cheering by his pres- 
ence those who were almost ready to fail. He seemed 
to bear a charmed life. Balls flew thick and fast around 
him, and his staff-officers fell on every side ; yet he 
moved on unharmed. His unwearied exertions were 
at length successful in arresting the progress of the 
French, and in wresting from them the advantages 
they had gained. Again the attack on the chateau 
of Hougomont was renewed. The cuirassiers poured 
the strength of their charge upon the 30th regiment, 
who received them in a square, and immediately 
deployed into a line, that the effect of their fire 
might be more fatal, while the instant re-formation of 
the square protected them, in a degree, from the next 
charge of the enemy. Leaving, at length, the 30th 
regiment, they rushed on to the 69th, and succeeded 
19 



216 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

in reaching them before their square was formed 
which enabled them to commit dreadful slaughter. 
Before the British cavalry could rush to their relief, 
only a few brave soldiers remained to effect their 
escape. Then, retiring to their former position, the 
fire from three hundred pieces of artillery was poured 
upon the whole line of the allies. The effect of this 
fire was very destructive. One general officer re- 
ported' to Wellington that his brigade was reduced to 
one-third of its original numbers, and that a tempo- 
rary cessation was necessary to the very existence 
of his troops. "What you propose," was the an- 
swer of the duke, " is impossible. You, I, and 
every Englishman on the field, must die in the spot 
we now occupy." " It is enough," replied the gen- 
eral ; "I, and every man under my command, are 
determined to share your fate." 

Numerous were the instances on each side, among 
both officers and men, of self-sacrifice to save their 
fellow-soldiers. But, notwithstanding the gallant 
defence of the British, their situation now became 
critical in the extreme. The first line of their troops 
had suffered severely, and those brought up to assist 
them could not always be relied on. One Belgian 
regiment, which the duke himself was leading to the 
contest, fled from the first fire, and left the duke to 
seek for more devoted followers. Another, being 
ordered to support a charge, was so long in doing it, 
that the duke sent word to their commander, either 
to advance immediately, or to draw off his men alto- 



ARRIVAL OF THE PRUSSIAN FORCE. 217 

gether. He thanked his Grace for the permission, 
and started for Brussels, alarming the town with a 
report that the French were at his heels. 

The Duke of Wellington felt and expressed the 
greatest anxiety. He exerted himself to the utmost 
to cheer his men ; but, as he saw how fatal were the 
French charges, he said to one of the officers near 
him, "0 that night, or Blucher, would come!" 
Napoleon saw, at last, as he imagined, that the con- 
test was nearly won. Already were couriers sent 
off to Paris to announce to its anxious multitudes 
that victory had crowned his efforts. Already had 
the shouts of victory! victory! passed from rank 
to rank among the French, as they saw the lines of 
the English tremble and fall back. But now a sound 
was heard which stilled, for a moment, even the fierce 
tumult of the battle. It was the voice of the trum- 
pet, announcing the arrival of fresh troops ; and the 
most intense anxiety pervaded every heart, to learn 
to what army they belonged. Both parties felt that 
the answer must decide the fate of the day. Mar- 
shal Grouchy had been stationed, with thirty thou- 
sand men, to control the movements of the Prussian 
army; and, in case of a severe engagement, he was 
to advance with his men to assist Napoleon. At clay- 
break, an aid-de-camp was sent, commanding him 
to be in readiness at a moment's warning. Soon 
after, another followed, requesting him to march im- 
mediately to the scene of action. At ten o'clock, he 
had not moved from his encampment. Still, Napo- 



218 EUEOPE Aim THE ALLIES, 1815. 

leon's confidence in him was unshaken. " He has 
committed a horrible fault," said he; "but he will 
repair it." Every hour he had expected his arrival ; 
and now, when the first files of the new army- 
emerged from the wood, he felt almost certain that 
his hopes were realized. But the Prussian standard 
was unfurled, and the English, with loud cheers and 
renewed courage, returned to the charge. Even 
then, Napoleon persisted in believing that the Prus- 
sian army was only retreating before the marshal, 
and that he would soon appear on the field. He was 
mistaken. 

Grouchy, if report may be believed, corrupted by 
British gold, remained in inglorious safety in his 
camp. He himself always maintained that he be- 
lieved the small detachment of the Prussian army 
which remained near him was the whole of their 
force ; and that, though the very ground under him 
was shaken by the reverberation of the continued 
discharges of artillery, he was acting up to his 
orders in remaining to check the Prussians. Be this 
as it may, his conduct decided the fate of the day.* 
" The destiny of Europe hung on the feeble intellect 
of a single man ; and his sluggish arm, in its tardy 
movements, swept crowns and thrones before it, 
overturned one of the mightiest spirits the world 
ever nurtured, and set back the day of Europe's final 
emancipation half a century. In a moment, Napo- 
leon saw that he could not sustain the attack of so 

* Headley. 



CHARGE OF THE OLD GUARD. 219 

many fresh troops, if once allowed to form a junc- 
tion with the allied forces ; and so he determined to 
stake his fate on one bold cast, and endeavor to 
pierce the allied centre, with a grand charge of the 
Old Guard, and thus, throwing himself between the 
two armies, fight them separately. For this purpose, 
the Imperial Guard was called up, which had re- 
mained inactive daring the whole day, and divided 
into two immense columns, which were to meet at 
the British centre. That under Reille no sooner 
entered the fire than it disappeared like mist. The 
other was placed under Ney, — the bravest of the 
brave, — and the order to advance given. Napoleon 
accompanied them part way down the slope, and, 
halting for a moment in a hollow, addressed them in 
his furious, impetuous manner. He told them that 
the battle rested with them, and he relied on their 
valor. 'Vive l'Empereur!' answered him, with a 
shout that was heard all over the field of battle. 

" The whole continental struggle exhibited no 
sublimer spectacle than this last effort of Napoleon to 
save his sinking empire. Europe had been put upon 
the plains of Waterloo to be battled for. The great- 
est military energy and skill the world possessed had 
been tasked to the utmost during the day. Thrones 
were tottering on the ensanguined field, and the 
shadows of fugitive kings flitted through the smoke 
of battle. Bonaparte's star trembled in the zenith, 
— now blazing out in its ancient splendor, — now 
suddenly paling before his anxious eye. At length, 
19* 



220 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

when the Prussians appeared on the field, he re- 
solved to' stake Europe on one bold throw. He saw 
his empire rest on a single charge. The intense 
anxiety with which he watched the advance of that 
column, and the terrible suspense he suffered when 
the smoke of battle wrapped, it from his sight, and 
the utter despair of his great heart when the cur- 
tain lifted over a fugitive army, and the despairing 
shriek rung on every side, ' La garde recule, — la 
garde recule,' make us for a single moment forget 
all the carnage, in sympathy with his distress. 

"Nothing could be more imposing than the move- 
ment of that grand column to the assault. That 
guard had never yet recoiled before a human foe, and 
the allied forces beheld with awe its firm and terrible 
advance to the final charge. For a moment the bat- 
teries stopped playing, and the firing ceased along 
the British lines, as, without the beating of a drum 
or the blast of a bugle to cheer their steady courage, 
they moved in dead silence over the plain. The 
next moment the artillery opened, and the head of 
that gallant column seemed to sink into the earth. 
Rank after rank went clown, yet they neither stopped 
nor faltered. Dissolving squadrons and whole bat- 
talions disappearing, one after another, in the 
destructive fire, affected not their steady courage. 
The ranks closed up as before, and each treading 
over his fallen comrade, pressed firmly on. The 
horse which the gallant Ney rode fell under him ; and 
he had scarcely mounted another, before it also sunk 



CHARGE OF THE OLD GUARD. 221 

to the earth. Again and again did that unflinching 
man feel his steed sink down, until five had been 
shot under him. Then, with his uniform riddled 
with bullets, and his face singed and blackened with 
powder, he marched on foot, with drawn sabre in 
hand, at the head of his men. In vain did the artil- 
lery hurl its storm of fire and lead into that living 
mass. Up to the very muzzles they pressed, and, 
driving the artillery-men from their own pieces, 
pushed on through the English lines. But, at that 
moment, a file of soldiers, who had lain flat upon the 
ground behind a low ridge of earth, suddenly arose 
and poured a volley in their very faces. Another 
and another followed, till one broad sheet of flame 
rolled on their bosoms, and in such a fierce and un- 
expected flow that human courage could not with- 
stand it. They reeled, shook, staggered back, then 
turned and fled. Ney was borne back in the reflu- 
ent tide, and hurried over the field. But for the 
crowd of fugitives that forced him on, he would have 
stood alone, and fallen on his footsteps. As it was, 
disdaining to give way, though the whole army was 
flying, that noble marshal formed his men into two 
immense squares, and endeavored to stem the terrific 
current ; and would have done so, had it not been 
for the thirty thousand fresh Prussians that pressed 
upon his exhausted ranks. For a long time, those 
squares, under the unflinching Ney, stood, and let 
the artillery plough through them. But the fate of 
Napoleon was writ, and though Ney doubtless did 



222 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

what no other man in the army could have done, 
the decree could not he reversed. The star that 
blazed so brightly over the world went down with 
honor and in blood, and the ' bravest of the brave ' 
had fought his last battle. It was worthy of his 
great name ; and the charge of the Old Guard at 
Waterloo, with him at their head, will be pointed to 
by remotest generations with a shudder." 

Soon after Sir Kobert Picton had received his 
death wound, while our shattered regiment was 
charging on the French column, a bullet pierced my 
left arm, the first wound I ever received in all my 
engagements, — the mark of which is now plainly 
visible, — which obliged me to fall back. I bled very 
freely; and this weakened me so much, that, finding 
it impossible to continue my retreat over the pile of 
dead and wounded with which the field was covered, 
I fell among them. Here I lay for a few moments, 
endeavoring to recover my exhausted strength. But 
here my situation was as dangerous as that of those 
advancing to the charge. Balls were flying in every 
direction around me, sometimes striking in the earth, 
soaked with the recent rains, and throwing it in 
every direction ; but oftener falling on the wounded, 
who might yet have had a chance for life, and crush- 
ing them in a yet more terrible death. Many a poor 
fellow, who had fallen from wounds, and the weak- 
ness induced by exertion, with the loss of blood, was 
trampled to death by the advancing cavalry. It was 
this, combined with an earnest desire to see ihe 



WOUNDS OF THE A#THOR. 228 

progress of the battle, that induced me to endeavor 
to change my location. I rose, and with great dif- 
ficulty proceeded but a few steps, when a second 
ball entered my thigh, which again brought me to 
the ground. Scarcely had I fallen the second time, 
when a company of Scotch Greys made a charge upon 
the French troops, not ten rods from where I lay. I 
then gave up all hope of ever leaving that battle- 
field, and expected never to rise again. Already, in 
imagination, I felt "the iron heel of the horse" 
trampling out my little remnant of life. The contest 
raged fearfully around us. Shots were exchanged 
thick and fast, and every moment but heightened the 
horrors of the scene. The blood flowed rapidly from 
my wounds, and my doom seemed inevitable. An 
old tattered handkerchief was all that I could procure 
to stop the rapidly exhausting hemorrhage. With my 
remaining hand and teeth I succeeded in tearing this 
into strips, and stuffed it into my wounds with my 
fingers as best I could. This arrested the crimson 
tide in some degree. I knew not how severe my 
wounds might be ; but, even if a chance of life re- 
mained from them, I knew full well that I was ex- 
posed every moment to share the fate of those who 
lay around me. Friends and enemies fell on every 
side, and mingled their groans and blood in one com- 
mon stream. Our lines were driven back, and our 
brave men compelled to yield the contest. Rivers 
of blood were poured out, and regiments of brave 
men were cut down in rapid succession. Nothing 



224 EUROPE AJNTD THE ALLIES, 1815. 

could exceed the bravery of the combatants on both 
sides. But the French light troops had this advan- 
tage of the English, — they could load and fire more 
rapidly than their enemies. The duke was com- 
pelled to see his plans frustrated, and his lines cut 
to pieces and driven back by the emperor's troops. 
Victory seemed already decided against us. Our 
men were fleeing — the enemy advancing with shouts 
of victory. The fate of the clay seemed settled, and 
to us soldiers it was so. It was not possible to rally 
the men to another charge. But, at the moment 
when all seemed lost, a bugle, with drum and fife, 
was heard advancing with rapid step. All supposed 
it to be Grouchy's regiment of fresh troops, ready to 
follow up the victory, and completely destroy the 
remnant of the duke's forces. Consternation now 
filled every mind, and confusion and disorder reigned. 
But the Prussian colors were seen hoisted, and it was 
then announced that Blucher, with thirty thousand 
men, was at hand. A halt, or rally, and renewed 
hopes animated every breast. This was the lucky 
moment, and the fate of the clay was at once 
changed. Report charges Grouchy with being cor- 
rupted and bought by English gold, — that he sold 
himself to the allied forces,, and thus gave them the 
victory, — for, had he come at that time, we should 
have been completely destroyed. Grouchy never 
entered the fight, or rendered Napoleon any assist- 
ance whatever. He was made immensely rich, and 
spent his life in the English possessions. He has 



SUFFERING UPON THE FIELD. 225 

ever been regarded as the man who sold his country 
and himself to the allies. His life was neither peace- 
ful or happy. He died in 1848. That Y\ 7 ellington 
never gained the victory at Waterloo by fair and 
honorable means, is not and cannot be asserted. 
But gold accomplished what neither the iron duke 
or his numerous allies could accomplish hy military 
prowess and skill. Napoleon would have gained the 
victory of Waterloo, had not treachery and bribery 
done their work. I must own the truth, although it 
be the lasting disgrace of my nation. I fought hard 
against Napoleon, and for my king. My hands were 
both blistered and burned black by holding my gun, 
which became so hot, the flesh was nearly burnt off 
the palms of both my hands. While I lay upon the 
ground covered with blood, unable to move, some one, 
more able than the rest, shouted, " The French are 
retreating. Blucher, with thirty thousand fresh 
troops has arrived, and is pursuing." This glad 
sound enabled me to raise my head, and soon, with 
great joy, I saw that the French were truly falling 
back, and that our troops were following. Again I 
felt that I had another chance for life ; and this 
thought gave me strength to reach my knapsack, 
from which I took a silk handkerchief, and with my 
teeth and right hand succeeded in tearing it, as I 
did the one before, and binding up tightly my 
wounds. This stopped the flow of blood while I 
remained perfectly still; but the least movement 
caused it to gush forth afresh. A little distance from 



226 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

me was a small hill, and under its shelter 1 should 
be in comparative safety. 0, how I longed to reach 
it ! Again and again I attempted to rise ; but every 
attempt was useless, and I was about resigning myself 
to my fate, when I observed, only a short distance 
from me, a woman with a child in her arms. This 
woman belonged to the company of camp-followers, 
who were' even now engaged in stripping the dead 
and wounded, with such eager haste, that they often 
advanced too near the contending columns, and paid 
with their lives their thirst for gold. In my travels 
it has often been my lot to witness the birds of prey 
hovering over the still living victim, only waiting 
till its power of resistance is lost, to bury their beaks 
in the writhing and quivering flesh, to satisfy their 
thirst for blood. I could think of nothing else, as I 
saw those wretches, reckless of their own lives, in 
their anxiety to be first on the ground, and lost to 
all feelings of humanity for others, stripping from the 
yet warm dead everything of value upon their 
persons ; not hesitating to punish with death even 
the least resistance on the part of the wounded, and 
making sport of their groans and sufferings. This 
woman came quite near to me. She stooped to take 
a gold watch from the pocket of an officer. As she 
raised herself, a shell struck the child, as it lay 
sleeping in her arms, and severed its little body 
completely in two. The shock struck the mother to 
the ground ; but, soon recovering herself, she sat up, 
gazed a moment upon the disfigured remains of her 



FLIGHT OF THE FRENCH ARMY. 227 

child, and, apparently unmoved, continued her fiend- 
ish work. Thus does war destroy all the finer feel- 
ings of the heart, and cherish those passions which 
quench even the pure flame of a mother's love for her 
helpless and dependent child. To this woman I ap- 
pealed for help ; and, with her assistance, succeeded 
in reaching the little hill to which I have alluded, 
and remained there in safety until the fate of the clay 
was fully decided. 

Between eight and nine o'clock that night the last 
of the French troops had withdrawn from the field, 
which had been fatal to so many thousands of human 
beings. The clouds and rain, which had rendered 
the preceding night so uncomfortable, had disap- 
peared, and the full moon shone in unclouded splen- 
dor. The English army, or, at least, that remnant of 
them left alive, wearied out by the exhausting scenes 
of the day, had returned to their bivouac of the 
night preceding, while the Prussians, under Blucher, 
continued the pursuit of the flying and panic-stricken 
French. 

History informs us that the horrors of that night 
exceeded even the tremendous scenes of the day. 
The French were in complete confusion. Carriages 
and ' horsemen marched over the fainting and ..ex- 
hausted infantry. The officers tried in vain to rally 
their men, that they might retreat in order. The 
first flash of a Prussian gun would scatter them, in 
the wildest confusion. Thousands fell in the con- 
fusion of the retreat, and thousands more were 
20 



228 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

crushed to death, or drowned in crossing the rivers 
Napoleon himself but just escaped with his liberty 
His carriage was stopped, his postilion and coach- 
man killed, and the door of his coach torn open just 
in season to witness his escape from the other side. 
While Blucher led on the Prussians in this murder- 
ous pursuit, the Duke of Wellington again led his 
army upon the field of battle. The wild tumult and 
confusion which had pervaded it through the day 
was now stilled, but the groans of the wounded and 
the shrieks of the dying were heard on every 
side. The English re-trod the battle-field, and 
searched out their wounded comrades, and hastily 
dressed their wounds. They then constructed litters, 
and on these carriages were the sick and wounded 
borne to the hospitals of Brussels and Antwerp. 

I have somewhere read a description, written by 
an eye-witness of the scenes of the night and follow- 
ing day, which I will beg leave of my readers to 
transcribe here. He says : " The mangled and life- 
less bodies were, even then, stripped of every cover- 
ing — everything of the smallest value was already 
carried oil. The road between Waterloo and Brus- 
sels, which passes for nine miles through the forest 
of Soigny, was choked up with scattered baggage, 
broken wagons and dead horses. The heavy rains 
and the great passage upon it rendered it almost 
impassable, so that it was with extreme difficulty 
that the carriages containing the wounded could be 
brought along. The way was lined with unfortunate 



THE SCENE AFTER THE BATTLE. 229 

men, who had crept from the field ; and many were 
unable to go further, and laid down and died. Holes 
dug by the wayside served as their graves, and the 
road for weeks afterwards was strewed with the tat- 
tered remains of their clothes and accoutrements. 
In every village and hamlet, — in every part of the 
country for thirty miles round, — the wounded were 
found wandering, the Belgian and Dutch stragglers 
exerting themselves to the utmost to reach their own 
homes. So great was the number of those needing 
care, that, notwithstanding the most active exertions, 
the last were not removed to Brussels until the 
Thursday following. 

" The desolation which reigned on the scene of 
action cannot be described. The fields of corn were 
trampled down, and so completely beaten into the 
mire that they had the appearance of stubble. The 
ground was completely ploughed up, in many places, 
with the charge of the cavalry ; and the horses' hoofs, 
deep stamped into the earth, left the traces where 
many a dreadful struggle had been. The whole field 
was strewed with the melancholy vestiges of devas- 
tation : soldiers' caps, pierced with many a ball, — 
eagles that had ornamented them, — badges of the 
legion of honor, — cuirasses' fragments, — broken 
arms, belts, and scabbards, shreds of tattered cloth, 
shoes, cartridge-boxes, gloves, Highland bonnets, 
feathers steeped in mud and gore, — French novels 
and German testaments, — scattered music belonging 
to the bands, — packs of cards, and innumerable pa 



230 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES, 1815. 

pers of every description, thrown out of the pockets 
of the dead, by those who had pillaged them, — love- 
letters, and letters from mothers to sons, and from 
children to parents ; — all, all these, and a thousand- 
fold more, that cannot be named, were scattered about 
in every direction." 

The total loss of the allies, during the four days, 
was sixty-one thousand and five hundred, and of the 
French forty-one thousand. 



EUROPE 



AND 



THE ALLIES OF TO-DAY. 



CHAPTER VII. 

TURKEY AND RUSSIA. 

Origin of the Ottoman Empire — Siege and Capture of Constantinople by 
the Turks — Mahomet — The Sultans — Abdul Medjid — His popularity and 
power — The Koran. 

The Russian Empire — Area and population — Social organization — Reli- 
gious policy — Nobility — Serfs — Conscription — 'The Army — Progress of 
Russia and extension of her frontiers — Nicholas — Poland. 

In the former half of the sixth century, Justinian was 
Emperor of the East. His empire nearly corresponded in 
geographical extent with the country which we now call 
Turkey in Europe. During his reign, Constantinople was 
visited by a company of warlike strangers, whose savage 
o.-oect filled all the people with amazement and fear. 
Their long hair, which hung in tresses down their backs, 
was gracefully bound with ribbons, but in the rest of their 
habit they resembled the Huns. These were the first 
Turks ever seen in Europe. They had come to offer the 
Emperor their alliance, which was accepted at a given 



232 EUROPE AJSTD THE AELTES. 

price. They had travelled from the foot of Mount Cau- 
casus, where they first heard of the splendor and weak- 
ness of the Roman Empire. Their origin was beyond that 
celebrated ridge, and in the midst of another no less cele- 
brated, and which is variously known as the Caf, the 
Imaus, the Golden Mountains, and the Girdle of the Earth. 
Here lived the people called Geougen, governed by a great 
Khan. In the hills they inhabited were many minerals. 
Iron and other mines were worked for them by the most 
despised portion of their slaves, who were known by the" 
name of Turks. These slaves, under Bertezena, one of 
their number, rebelled against the great Khan, and suc- 
ceeded in possessing themselves of their native country. 
From freedom they proceeded to conquest, and it was in 
the course of their victories that they found their way to 
the Caucasus. ISTearly a century elapsed, and Heraclius 
was Emperor. He formed an alliance with the Turks, 
and so honored their prince as to place the imperial dia- 
dem on his head, and salute him with a tender embrace 
as his son. In the ninth century the Turks were intro- 
duced into Arabia. The Caliph Motassem employed them 
as his own guards in his own capital. He educated them 
in the exercise of arms, and in the profession of the Ma- 
hometan faith. No less a number than 50,000 of these 
hardy foreigners did he thus foolishby establish in the very 
heart of his dominions. In due time they became masters 
of some portions of the country into which they had. been 
admitted as mercenaries. For one of their princes, Mah- 
moocl or Mahmud, the title of Sultan was invented, about 
a thousand years after Christ. Its meaning is autocrat or 
lord. His conquests were very extensive, and stretched 



TUKKEY, 1326. 233 

from Transoxiana to Ispahan — from the shores of the 
Caspian to the mouth of the Indus. 

Toward the close of the twelfth century, Zingis (or Gen 
ghis) Khan organized incredible hordes of Moguls and 
Tartars, and conquered nearly all Asia west of India. 
After his death, the Tartar Empire was broken up into 
fragments. Most of these resultant little kingdoms gradu- 
ally embraced Mahometanism, and amongst them was laid 
the foundation of what is new called the Ottoman (or 
Turkish) Empire. Incited by the example and success of 
the terrible Tartar, Shah Soliman, prince of the town of 
JSTera, on the Caspian Sea, spread the terror of his arms 
all through Asia Minor, as far as the Euphrates. He was 
drowned in the passage of that river. His son, Orthogrul, 
succeeded him. This chief was the father of Thaman, or 
Athman, whose Turkish name has been melted into the 
appellation of the Caliph Othman. He was an aspiring 
and clever man, and soon freed himself from the control 
of a superior, as the power of the Mogul Khans had 
become well nigh extinct. He resolved to propagate the 
religion of the Koran by every means in his power ; and 
began his holy war against the infidels by making a 
descent into Nicomedia. This he did in July, 1299. He 
was entirely victorious ; and for twenty-seven years he 
repeated similar inroads, and achieved similar conquests 
in other directions. Towards the close of his reign, Prusa 
(Boursa), the capital of Bithynia, surrendered to his son 
Orchan, who, after his father's death, made it the seat of 
his government. This was in the year 1326, and from 
that time we may date the true era of the Ottoman Em- 
pire, — the name of which is plainly derived from that 



234 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

of the Caliph Othman. His power rapidly increased 
Many cities and districts fell into his hands, — amongst 
others, Ephesus, and the other six places, in which were 
the seven churches of Asia. Christianity in all these 
localities, except Philadelphia, was speedily extinguished, 
and supplanted by Islamism. Orchan had two sons, 
Soliman and Amurath. The former subdued Thrace, and 
possessed himself of Gallipoli, and was at last killed by a 
fall from his horse. The aged Emir (for no higher title 
had Orchan assumed) wept, and expired on the tomb of 
his valiant son. Amurath stept into his place, and wielded 
the scimitar with all his father's energy. By the advice 
of his vizier, he selected for his own use the fifth part of 
the Christian youth in the provinces which he subjugated. 
His choice fell on the stoutest and most beautiful. These 
were named " yengi cheri," or new soldiers. In more 
recent times the haughty troops, originated in this way, 
have gone by the name of Janissaries. At first they were 
courageous and zealous in the cause of their new master 
and new religion. For a long while they were the elite 
of the Turkish forces, and in critical outbreaks have often 
been a source of great anxiety to the sultans themselves. 

Bajazet, his son and successor, surnamed " Ilderim," or 
Lightning, was a man of fiery and energetic temperament. 
His territory was rapidly extended over the whole country, 
from Boursa to Adrianople, from the Danube to the Eu- 
phrates. He turned his arms against Hungary ; and at 
J^icopolis defeated 100,000 Christians, who had proudly 
boasted that if the sky should fall they could uphold it 
tra their lances. Bajazet boasted that he would advance 
tc Germany and Italy, and feed his horse with a bushel 



TURKEY, 1453. 235 

of oats on the altar of St. Peter's at Rome. A fit of the 
gout prevented his fulfilment of this threat. Meanwhile 
there rose up another great Mogul conqueror, Timour, or 
Tamerlane, who avenged the defeat of his ancestors upon 
the Turks. Bajazet (who had assumed the title of sultan) 
was conquered and taken captive. From the Irtysh and 
Volga to the Persian Gulf, and from the Ganges to 
Damascus and the Archipelago, Asia was in the hands of 
Timour ; his armies were invincible, his ambition was 
boundless, and his zeal might have aspired to conquer 
and convert the Christian kingdoms of the "West, which 
already trembled at his name. But he was not master of 
a single galley, with which to cross the Bosphorus or 
Dardanelles. This insuperable obstacle checked his 
career. At length he died, and the Ottoman power, like 
a strong tree recovering itself after a storm, began again 
to stand erect and flourish. 

The great-grandson of Bajazet was Mahomet II. He 
emulated the Grecian Alexander. He laid siege to Con- 
stantinople, investing it with an army of 258,000 Turks. 
His navy comprised about 320 vessels, of which 18 were 
galleys of war. He had engaged the services of a Danish, 
or Hungarian, founder of cannon, who made him a field- 
piece capable of throwing a ball, which weighed 600 
pounds, more than a mile. This could be fired only seven 
times in one day. Never before had the recent invention 
of gunpowder been employed with such terrible effect as 
at this siege of Constantinople. The inhabitants of tha'. 
city were more than 100,000, but of those not more than 
4,970, together with a body of 2,000 strangers, were 
capable of bearing arms. How small a garrison to defend 



236 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

a city of thirteen, or peihaps sixteen, miles in extent ! 
Yet, under these doleful circumstances, the city was 
distracted with religious discord, just as Jerusalem was 
before and during its siege by Titus. An immense chain 
closed the mouth of the harbor, whilst the mouth of the 
Bosphorus was defended by a fleet which was superior to 
that of the Turks. The city seemed incapable of being 
reduced. The Turks despaired : the Christians triumphed. 
In this perplexity it occurred to Mahomet to transport his 
fleet across the land. By amazing ingenuity and toil, he 
accomplished this feat. The distance was ten miles, yet 
in a single night he thus launched eighty of his light 
vessels into the harbor. The success of this scheme was 
perfect. He found his way into the city, which was taken 
May 29th, 1453. The last Palseologus, Constantine XL, 
fell by an unknown hand, and his body was buried under 
a mountain of the slain. The siege had lasted fifty-three 
days. Besides the multitudes that fell in fight, about 
60,000 of the unhappy Greeks were reduced to the con- 
dition of slaves. Most of those were soon dispersed in 
remote servitude through the provinces of the Ottoman 
empire. The church of St. Sophia was speedily stripped 
of all its pictures and images, and before the lapse of 
many hours, the muezzin, or crier, ascended the most lofty 
turret and proclaimed the ezan, or public invitation, in 
the name of God and his prophet ; the Imam preached ; 
and Mahomet the Second performed the namaz of prayer 
and thanksgiving on the great altar, where the Christiai: 
mysteries had so lately been celebrated before the last of 
the Caesars. From St. Sophia he proceeded to the august 
but desolate mansion of a hundred successors of the great 




ABDUL MEDJID, SULTAN OT TURKEY. 



MAHOMET, 1517. 237 

Constantine ; but which, in a very short time, had been 
stripped of the pomp of royalty. A melancholy reflection 
on rhe vicissitudes of human greatness forced itself on his 
mind, and he repeated an elegant distich of Persian 
poetry — " The spicier has wove his web in the imperial 
palace ; and the owl has sung her watch-song on the 
towers of Afrasiab." 

Mahomet removed the seat of his government to Constan- 
tinople ; a city so obviously marked out by nature for the 
metropolis of a vast empire. The population was speedily 
renewed. Before the end of September, five thousand 
families of Anatolia and Romania had obeyed the royal 
mandate, which enjoined them, under pain of death, to 
occupy their new habitations in the capital. The Sultan's 
throne was guarded by the numbers and fidelity of his 
Moslem subjects ; but he strove by a rational policy to 
collect the scattered remnant of the Greeks. These 
returned in crowds as soon as they were assured of their 
lives, their liberties, and the free exercise of their religion. 
The churches were shared between the two religions ; 
their limits were marked ; and, till it was infringed by 
Selim, the grandson of Mahomet, the Greeks enjoyed 
above sixty years the benefit of this equal partition. After 
effecting many other triumphs of his arms, Mahomet died 
in 1480, in the midst of great projects he was devising 
against Eome and Persia. His grandson soon dethroned 
and murdered his own father, and commenced a vigorous 
reign under the title of Selim I. He defeated the Mame- 
lukes, and in 1517 conquered Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. 
During fifty years the arms of the Ottomans, both by sea 
and land, were the terror of Europe and Asia. Especially 



238 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

was this the case during the government of Selim's son, 
Soliman I., surnamed the Magnificent. His term of 
power extended from 1519 to 1566. This energetic tyrant 
iook Belgrade, the island of Rhodes (from the knights of 
St. John), and Buda. He also subdued half of Hungary. 
He exacted a tribute from Moldavia, and so far mastered 
the Persians as to make Bagdad, Mesopotamia, and 
Georgia subject to him. Under this monarch the Otto- 
man empire reached its climax of renown and power. 
Before his death, symptoms of decline began to manifest 
themselves. Though extending his authority over an 
immense tract of country, he had failed to develop the 
internal strength, and consolidate the internal union, of 
his kingdom. The conquered nations were not properly 
incorporated, so as to constitute an integral part of 
Turkey. Hence, the frequency of the revolts, which, 
with varying success, for a long time after the death of 
Soliman, alike disturbed the peace and exhausted the 
strength of the Byzantine government. Ever since 1566, 
the Ottoman sovereigns have, in most instances, ascended 
the throne from a prison, and then surrendered themselves 
to the effeminate luxuries of the seraglio, until their 
despicable reign terminated either by assassination, or by 
deposition and another imprisonment. Several grand 
viziers, or prime ministers, have at different periods sup- 
plied their masters' deficiencies and screened their vices. 
Through the zeal and talents of these active servants of 
the State, it has been retarded 'in its declension and 
preserved from utter disintegration. The people con- 
tinued for mar/y years to sink deeper and deeper into 
ignorance, poverty, and helplessness, whilst in the pro- 



ABDUL MEDJID, 1822. 239 

vinces rapacious Pashas exceeded the cupidity and 
emulated the voluptuousness of the Sultan in the capital. 
The Sublime Porte, as the Ottoman government is often 
called, became an object of contempt and ridicule to aL 
European nations. It remained inactive and unprogres- 
sive, whilst each of these was rapidly striving on towards 
the goal of intelligence and freedom, which still waits to 
be fully attained. Blindly attached to their fatalistic 
doctrines, and elated by their past military glory, the 
Turks looked upon foreigners with proud scorn, and 
despised them as dogs and infidels. Without any settled 
place, but incited by hatred of the Christians and a thirst 
for conquest, they carried on wars with Persia, Venice, 
Hungary, and Poland. The mutinies of the janissaries 
and the rebellions of subordinate governors often became 
dangerous in the extreme : but the ruling despot contrived 
from time to time to exterminate the enemies he feared, 
by the dagger or the bowstring ; and the ablest men were 
not unfrequently sacrificed to the hatred of the soldiery 
or of the sacred college. The successor to the throne 
commonly put all his brothers to death, whilst the people 
regarded with apathy either the murder of a cruel Sultan 
wdiom they hated, or of a weak one, whom they could not 
fear. 

The present Sultan Abdul Medjid Khan, born the 6th 
of May, 1822, thirty-first sovereign of the family of Osinan, 
and twenty-eighth since the taking of Constantino;)'^, 
succeeded his father, Sultan Mahmoud Khan, on the 1st 
of July, 1839. He was commencing his seventeenth year 
when he ascended the throne. He looked a little older 
than he really was, although his appearance was far from 



240 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

announcing a robust constitution. Some months pre- 
viously an inflammation of the lungs had endangered his 
life. Pie had been saved by the care of an Armenian 
Roman Catholic, who was renowned for his cures. Slen- 
der and tall, he had the same long, pale face as his father ; 
his black eyebrows, less arched than those of Mahmoud, 
announced a mind of less haughtiness and of less energy. 
His lips are rather thick, and he is slightly marked with 
the small-pox. At this epoch of his life, his features did 
not present a very marked expression, as if no strong 
passion had yet agitated the young breast. But his eyes, 
large and very beautiful, sometimes became animated 
with a most lively expression, and glistened with the fire 
of intelligence. Although Abdul Medjid had not been 
subjected to the captivity usually reserved for the heirs to 
the throne, his education, which had been directed 
according to the custom of the seraglio, had been very 
superficial, and had not prepared him for the heavy 
responsibility which was hanging over him. 

Abdul Medjid was much indebted to nature : he after- 
wards perfected his education, and has become a most 
accomplished prince, remarkable above all for his pas- 
sionate love of literature and the arts. 

The first time the young Sultan presented himself to 
the eyes of his subjects he was dressed in an European 
trousers and coat, over which was thrown the imperial 
cloak, fastened by a diamond aigrette. On his breast he 
wore the decoration of the jSTicham Iflichar ; his head was 
covered with the fez, surmounted by a diamond aigrette. 
The new king, while thus continuing the costume of his 
father, nevertheless presented only a pale resemblance to 



SULTAN ABDUL MEDJID, 1S39. 241 

him. Simple without affectation, lie cast around him 
glances full of softness and benevolence. Everything 
announced in him the debonnaire successor of an inflexi- 
ble ruler ; nothing hitherto had indicated what great and 
precious qualities were concealed beneath the modest and 
tranquil exterior. He was received favorably by his 
people, but without any demonstration of enthusiasm. It 
was feared that this delicate youth could scarcely be 
equal to the importance of his duties. People pitied him, 
and, at the same time, trembled for the future prospects 
of the country. The women alone, touched by his youth 
and his appearance of kindness, manifested their sympathy 
for him openly. When he went through Constantinople 
to the Mosque of Baiezid, they ran towards him from all 
parts : " Is not our son handsome ?" they cried, adopting 
him with affection. When he was only seventeen years 
of age, the official cry was heard in the streets of Constan- 
tinople, "His Highness, our most magnificent lord, Abdul 
Medjid, has risen to the throne ! God will that his reign 
make the happiness of his people !" The new monarch 
soon began to play the part of a reformer. He assured to 
all his subjects, without exception, perfect security for 
their lives and fortunes, a regular mode of taxation, as 
also of recruiting the army; he abolished the monopoly 
and venality of the public offices ; insured the public 
administration of justice and the free transmission of 
property ; and founded all the public institutions and 
administrations upon the systems of Europe, particularly 
of France, yet with every attention to the peculiar cus- 
toms and prejudices of his own people. Abdul Medjid 
speedily became the idol with all classes. Their esteem 



242 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

was increased by his extreme amiability of temper, and 
heightened almost to infatuation by the taste for literature 
which he displayed, and for his ardent endeavors to raise 
the educational character of his subjects. The reign of 
Abdul has been sullied by no execution, by no act of 
cruelty. None of his ministers have ever lost their lives 
along with their office and power. He has been very 
kind to his brother, Abdul Aziz Effendi, allowing him 
both life and liberty, and making him a frequent com- 
panion. In the troubles which agitated Western Europe 
in 1848 and 1849, the Sultan acted a noble part in refusing 
to deliver up, at the dictation of Russia, certain Hungarian 
and other refugees, who had fled to him for shelter. In 
this firm course he was supported, both by his own peo- 
ple, and also by Erance and England. 

In Turkey, the Sultan is the supreme and absolute ruler ; 
there exists no one but himself who can be said to possess 
any power. He issues his edicts, which have the force 
of laws. He commands the whole naval and military 
power of the country. He sometimes; though in violation 
of the Koran, which is the very ground-work of his 
authority, imposes taxes on the people, and levies them 
as he likes, either generally, or locally, or partially, 
making one place, or one set of persons, or one individual, 
pay, and not the rest of his subjects. And, with few 
exceptions, the whole nation is subject to his absolute will 
and caprices, and there is no one who does not derive from 
him all the authority and weight he possesses in any 
employment, or in any station. 

As, however, the Sultan cannot do all the business of 
the country, but, on the contrary, from the indolent habits 



TURKEY, 1855. 243 

of the East, and the worse and more effeminate habits con- 
tracted by the bad education of despotic princes, passes 
his time inactive and averse to employment of any hind, 
he is obliged to delegate his power to ministers and officers 
of different kinds, — yet all of these are named and removed 
by him, and are absolutely dependent on his pleasure or 
caprice. His prime minister is called the Grand Vizier ; 
the minister of foreign affairs is the Reis Effendi ; the 
governors of provinces are called bashaws or pashas ; the 
admiral is called the capitan (captain) pasha, and so forth ; 
the judges are called cadis ; and all these act in the Sul- 
tan's name, and obey, absolutely, whatever orders he gives 
them ; so that, if he pleases to order that a cause be deci- 
ded in a particular way, the judges must obey ; and 
applications to the Sultan, or the bashaw, or governor of 
a province, to interfere for this purpose, are very frequent. 
Thus there is no possibility of resisting his superior author- 
ity, or controlling his universally prevailing influence, 
unless it be that some kind of limits are fixed by the Koran, 
and by the bodies of priests and lawyers who interpret it, 
and administer the laws founded upon it, and whom it is 
not the practice of the Sultan to interfere with, although 
he appoints all their chiefs, either directly, or through his 
governors. The chief priest, or primate, or archbishop, 
is called the Grand Mufti, and owes his promotion to 
office to the Sultan entirely, at whose pleasure he continues 
to hold it till he is removed. 

The Eastern tyrant orders any individual to be seized 
and put to death for a look, much more for a mutinous 
word. He walks through his capital, perhaps in disguise, 
and settles some dispute between his subjects by ordering 



244 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

one to give up his property to another, because he thinks, 
upon a moment's inquiry, that the latter has a right to it, 
or merely because his caprice makes him lean to one rather 
than the other. He hears a charge against a man, and at 
once strangles him on the spot ; or he takes a dislike, and, 
without any pretext at all, kills him, and sells his family 
for slaves. He covets some one's house, or garden, or 
jewel, or wife, and instantly seizes it, or kills the owner 
that he may take it. Even this is not the worst that the 
people suffer ; for, were this all, men might be safe by 
keeping at a distance, and the despot cannot be every- 
where. But where he himself is not, his deputies, his 
bashaws, or, as in some countries they are called, his beg- 
lerbegs, are, and their subaltern oppressors. Each has all 
the sovereign's prerogatives in his own person ; and 
though they are all liable to be summarily punished, not 
only by removal, but by being strangled with the bow- 
string sent to be inflicted upon them, and although the 
prince does now and then so punish wicked governors, 
yet he has a direct interest in their exactions ; for one of 
his largest revenues is the succeeding as heir to all persons 
in his service ; and in case they should conceal, or secretly 
make over to their family the gains they have made in 
the public service, the Sultan, during their life, squeezes 
the money from them, and puts them to the tortures by 
the bastinado — severe strokes on the soles of the feet — and 
by other torments, in order to discover their property. 
The bowstring is used in a way quite characteristic of the 
Turkish despotism. The Sultan, or his vizier, if he be the 
person ordering the punishment, sends an officer, generally 
one of very inferior rank, to the bashaw who has been 



TURKEY, 1855. 245 

complained of, and whose conduct has, behind his hack, 
been examined by the government at Constantinople. 
He carries a bowstring with him, and the order of the 
Sultan in writing, sealed with the imperial signet, dipped 
into black ink, and signed with the Sultan's cipher of 
toghra. The bashaw, if he has a power in his hands which 
enables him to set the sovereign at defiance, and to rebel 
against his authority, avoids seeing the messenger, and 
puts him to death on some pretext, as having him way- 
laid, and representing him as killed by banditti. But if 
not, he at once, on receiving the messenger's communi- 
cation, kisses the sealed paper and the bowstring, bares 
his neck, and allows the man to strangle him, when his 
body is either buried privately, or thrown to be devoured 
by dogs, according as the people, or the troops, at the seat 
of his government, are w r ell or ill disposed towards his 
person. 

The foundation of the whole Turkish law is laid in the 
Koran, or Mohammedan scriptures ; and here the absolute 
power of the sovereign is distinctly pronounced, and the 
duty of passive submission to his will inculcated upon all, 
as a duty to God immediately rendered. 



THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



The aspect of affairs in Europe gives the public a strong 
interest in measuring the forces and the energy of the 
great antagonist whose aggression has called forth the 



246 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

fleets and armies of England and France to battle after an 
unbroken peace of forty years. It lias seldom happened 
to any nation to engage in hostilities with a foreign power 
whose real strength and resources are so imperfectly 
known. ISTo other empire but that of Russia ever suc- 
ceeded in keeping so vast a portion of the globe a secret 
and a mystery from the rest of mankind. We know that 
she possesses territories wider than the realms of Tamer- 
lane ; and that the troops under her banners are as count- 
less as the hosts that followed Napoleon when he was the 
master of Europe. 

Russia, taking its whole extent, is by much the largest 
empire of which there is any record in the annals of the 
world ; and vast as it is, it may be said to be compact and 
continuous, without the intervention of land belonging to 
any other power. In this great empire every variety of 
climate is to be found, and every vegetable production, 
from those of the climate of southern Europe to the icy 
regions of the north, where vegetation fails, and nature is 
for ever bound in unproductive fetters — may, in one dis- 
trict or another, be brought to maturity. Nor are the 
mineral riches less copious ; for there is scarcely a valued 
product of the mine which may not be obtained in some 
part of Russia, and several of the most useful ones, in great 
abundance, and of excellent quality. We insert a correct 
table* of the population and extent of the empire. 

More than a hundred peoples, speaking a hundred dif- 
ferent idioms, inhabit the surface of the empire. But 
almost all these peoples are scattered along its frontiers. 

* See Table on the following page. 



RUSSIAN EMPIRE, 1852. 



247 



AREA AND POPULATION OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 







Population in 


Mean 




Area in 
English 




Population 


Natural Divisions 






in 1852, per 




Square Miles. 


1846. 


1852. 


Sq. Mile. 


Great Russia, .... 


323,781 


19,220.900 


20,403,371 


62' 


Little Russia, . 






150,141 


11,093,400 


11,775,865 


78 '4 


New Russia, . 






96,636 


3,070,700 


3,259,612 


337 


White Russia, . 






70,399 


2,767,200 


2,937,436 


417 


Western Provinces, 






47.076 


2,704,300 


2,870,667 


609 


Baltic Provinces, 






36,616 


1,659.800 


1,761,907 


48'1 


Northern Provinces, 






536,226 


1,338,300 


1,420,629 


2'6 


Ural Provinces, 






447,788 


10,146.000 


10,770,181 


24' 


Cossack Districts, . 






123,776 


1,089,700 


1,156,736 


93 


Poland, 






49,230 


4,857,700 


5,156543 


1047 


Finland, . 




135,808 


1,412,315 


1,499,199 


ir 


Total in Europe, 






2,022,477 


59,360,315 


63,012,146 


311 



Caucasian Provinces, 

West Siberia 

East Siberia, .... 
American Possessions, . . 


86,578 

2,681,147 

2 122,000 

371,350 


2,850,000 

3,500,000 

237.000 

61,000 


2,850,000 

3,500,000 

237.000 

61,000 


32'8 

13 

11 

16 


Total Extra European, . 


5,261,075 


6,648,000 


6,648,000 


126 


Totals 


7,283,552 


66,208,315 


69,660,146 


95 



In respect to Race, the population of the Russian Empire may be classed approximately, a& 
follows : — 

(Lithuanic ( 
Branch < Lithuanians and Letts, .... 2,000,008 

o, qvnni> (Russians 49,000,000) 
i™' h < Bulgarians and Illyrians, . 5.000,000 > 56,000,000 

branch ( Poleg 6,500,000 ) 

58,000,000 

Germans, ......... 650.000 

Dacian Romans, ....... 750,000 

Tshuds, ......... 3,400.000 

Tartars, ......... 2,150,000 

Mongols, ......... 250,000 

Munshus, ......... 100,000 

Hyperborean Races, ........ 200,000 

Caucasian Tribes, ....... 2,750,000 

Greeks, ......... 70.000 

Jews, ......... 1,600.000 

Gipsies, ......... 30,800 

Miscellaneous, ........ 50,000 

12,000,000 

Total, ........ 70,000,000 

In respect to religion, there are probably in the Russian Empire 50,000,000 belonging to the so- 
called Greek Church (i. e. Byzantine Catholics) ; about 7.000.000 Raman Catholics (chiefly 
Poles) ; and upwards of 3.000,000 Protestants (Germans and Tshuds). 

Relative proportion of the dominant race to the olher races in the Russian dominions :— Slav* 
to Don Slavs, as 29 to 6, or 4 8 to 1 : Russians to non-Russians, as 7 to 3, or 2'3 to 1. 



248 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The whole interior is inhabited by one sole race, that of 
the Russians proper. The Russian race alone consists of 
about 50,000,000 souls, whilst all the other tribes of the 
empire put together do not exceed 15,000,000. 

~No other state in Europe possesses so numerous a 
population belonging to one nation. Even France con- 
tains but 32,000,000 of Frenchmen out of 35,000,000 or 
36,000,000 of inhabitants ; and Great Britain about 
19,000,000 of Englishmen out of 30,000,000 of inhabit- 
ants. The 36,000,000 inhabitants of Great Russia speak 
identically the same language, from the highest classes to 
the lowest, from the Emperor to the peasant. The dia- 
lects of the White Russians and of 7,000,000 of Little 
Russians are slightly different, but still comprehensible. 
To this complete unity of language must be added, among 
the Great Russians, the most surprising uniformity of 
manners and customs. 

Another still more important element of political 
strength is the unity of the Russian Church. This, unity 
is complete amongst the Little Russians and Ruthenians, a 
few of the latter only being in communion with the 
Church of Rome. The Great Russians are divided by a 
schism, but the Staroverzi (or members of the old faith) 
have seceded from the Established Church, not on the 
grounds of doctrine, but of ceremonial usages. 

Although the first Russian empire, which was governed 
by Rurik, was founded by Kormans (the Yarangians), 
who must have introduced into Russia the fundamental 
Germanic institutions and the principles of the feudal 
system, this system never took root amongst the Sclavo- 
nian population. On the contrary, all the popular insti- 



RUSSIAN EMPIKE, 1855. 249 

tutions of Russia assumed the patriarchal character, which 
is peculiarly adapted to the Sclavonian race, and espe- 
cially to the Russian people, which in this respect closely 
resembles the ancient nations of the East. The social 
organization of Russia forms in all its relations and 
degrees an uninterrupted scale of hierarchy, every step of 
which rests on some patriarchal power. The father is the 
absolute sovereign of the family, which cannot exist with- 
out him. If the father dies, the eldest son takes his place 
and exercises the full paternal authority. The property 
of the family is common to all the males belonging to it, 
but the father or his representative can alone dispose of 
it. Next comes the village or township, which is like an 
enlarged family, governed by an elected father or starost. 
This starost is elected for three years. His power is abso- 
lute, and he is obeyed without restriction. All the inha- 
bited and cultivated lands of the village are held in 
common as undivided property. jSTo portion is ceded as 
private property. The starost divides the fruits or profits 
of the whole amongst them. So, again, all these villages 
or townships form the nation ; a nation of men equal 
among themselves, and equally subject to the chief of the 
empire and the race — the Czar. The authority of the 
Czar is absolute, like the obedience of his subjects. Any 
restriction on the authority of the Czar appears to a true 
Russian as a monstrous contradiction. "Who can limit 
the power or the rights of a father ?" says the Russian ; 
" he holds them, not from us, who are his children, nor 
from any man, but from God, to whom he will one day 
answer for them." The mere form of words, " It is 
ordered," has a magical effect on the Russians. They pav 



250 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

the same respect to the agents of the government, whom 
they regard as the servants of the Czar, and to all their 
superiors. A Russian calls batiouschka — little papa — not 
only his father or ah old man, but the starost, or any 01 
his superiors. The Emperor himself is never addressed by 
the people by any other name. An old serf will call his 
master " little papa," even though he should be a child of 
ten years old. 

In Russia there is no national or domestic association 
which has not its centre, its unity, its chief, its father, 
its master. A chief is absolutely indispensable to the 
existence of Russians. They choose another father when 
they lose their own. The starost is elected to be uncon- 
ditionally obeyed. This must be well understood in 
order to comprehend the true position of the Czar. The 
Russian nation is like a hive of bees, which absolutely 
require a queen-bee. In Russia the Czar is not the dele- 
gate of the people, nor the first servant of the state, nor 
the legal owner of the soil, nor even a sovereign by the 
grace of God. He is at once the unity, the chief, and the 
father of his people. He does not govern by right of 
office, but, as it were, by the ties of blood, recognised by 
the whole nation. This feeling is as natural to the whole 
population as that of their own existence, insomuch that 
the Czar can never do wrong. Whatever happens, the 
people always think him right. Any restriction on his 
power, even to the extent of one of the German Diets, 
would be considered in Russia an absurd chimera. The 
Czar Ivan IY. committed the most cruel actions, but the 
people remained faithful to him, and loved him all the 
more. To this day he is the hero of the popular ballads 



THE RUSSIANS, 1855. 251 

and legends of the country. When the Czar Ivan the 
Terrible, weary of governing, sought to abdicate, the Rus- 
sians flung themselves at his feet to entreat him to remain 
on the throne. 

The feeling of the Russians is not so much one of deep 
attachment to their country as of ardent patriotism. Their 
country, the country of their ancestors, the Holy Russia, 
the people fraternally united under the sceptre of the Czar, 
the communion of faith, the ancient and sacred monu- 
ments of the realm, the tombs of their forefathers — all 
form a whole which excites and enraptures the mind of 
the Russians. They consider their country as a sort of 
kinsmanship to which they address the terms of familiar 
endearment. God, the Czar, and the priest, are all called 
" Father," — the Church is their " Mother," and the empire 
is always called " Holy Mother Russia." The capital of 
the empire is " Holy Mother Moscow," and the Yolga 
" Mother Yolga." Even the high road from Moscow to 
Vladimir is called " our dear mother the high road to 
Yladimir." But above all, Moscow, the holy mother of 
the land, is the centre of Russian history and tradition, to 
which all the inhabitants of the empire devote their love 
and veneration. Every Russian entertains all his life long 
the desire to visit one day the great city, to see the towers 
of its holy churches, and to pray on the tombs of the 
patron saints of Russia. " Mother Moscow" has already 
suffered and given her blood for Russia, as all the Russian 
people are ready to do for her. 

There is not in Europe any nobility which possesses such 
large fortunes, (?) such vast personal privileges, such liber- 
ties, (? ?) such political rights in tL e internal administration 



252 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

of the empire, (? ? ?) or so much physical power as the 
Russian aristocracy. The nobles possess in absolute pro- 
perty more than one-half of the lands under tillage. More 
than half the population of Russia Proper, that is, more 
than 12,000,000 of souls, which means more than 24,- 
000,000 of heads, are not only their subjects, but their 
serfs. 

It must be understood that in Russian rent-rolls the term 
" souls" means exclusively the males on an estate. In 
every valuation of the agricultural population, however, 
the unity taken is the Tieglo of two souls, or, more exactly, 
five persons; the women and younger children being 
included. 

The class of Russian serfs, or mougiks, represents, accord- 
ing to M. Leouzon le Due, no less than one-twentieth. part 
of mankind. It exceeds the whole population of France or 
Austria, and is computed to amount to no less than forty 
millions of human beings. The condition of these serfs 
differs in no material respect from that of the negro slaves 
of the United States, for the law holds them to be abso- 
lutely disqualified from possessing property ; all they may 
earn or hold is really the property of their lord, and at his 
mercy. The Russian landlord is armed with a power 
which even the American planter does not possess. He 
is bound to feed the terrible conscription of the arm}'-, year 
by year, with an aliquot part of his own peasants. The 
rule of the Russian army is twenty-five years' duty. The 
power of drafting off particular men into the army 
amounts to an absolute control over their existence. The 
body of the serf is equally subject to every caprice of the 
master, and the use of the whip is universal. The virtue 



PETEK THE GREAT, 1689. 253 

of the female serf is m his power, and it is considered an 
honor among the Russian peasantry to reckon the adulte- 
rous offspring of their master amongst their own. The 
law itself precludes all redress, for the Swod expressly 
enacts that, " if any serf, forgetting the obedience he owes 
to his lord, presents a denunciation against him, and espe- 
cially if he presents such a denunciation to the Emperor, 
he shall be handed over to justice, and treated with all the 
rigor of the laws — he, and the scribe who may have drawn 
up his memorial." We cannot conceive in any country 
or any age a more complete annihilation of human inde- 
pendence, or a more total degradation of human society. 

The pay of the Russian army in all ranks is wretchedly 
small. The common soldier receives about $7 50 a year ; 
a lieutenant-general about $850 ; a colonel, $500 ; a cap- 
tain from $250 to $300. 



THE PROGRESS OF RUSSIA/ 

There is something really grand and imposing in the 
steady march of Russian dominion, since Peter the Great 
first consolidated his empire into a substantive state. 

On his accession, in 1689, its western boundary was in 
longitude 30 degrees, and its southern in latitude 42 de- 
grees ; these have now been pushed to longitude 18 de- 
grees and latitude 39 degrees respectively. Russia had 
then no access to any European sea ; her only ports were 
Archangel in the Frozen Ocean, and Astrakhan on the 
Caspian : she has now access both to the Baltic and the 



254 ETTKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Euxine. Her population, mainly arising from increase 
of territory, has augmented thus : — 

At the accession of Peter the Great, in 1689, it was 
15,000,000 ; at the accession of Catharine the Second, in 
1752, it was 25,000,000 ; at the accession of Paul, in 1796, 
it was 86,000,000 ; at the accession of Nicholas, in 1825, 
it was 58,000,000. 

By the treaty of JSTeustadt in 1721, and by a subse- 
quent treaty in 1809, she acquired more than the king- 
dom of Sweden, and the command of the Gulf of Finland, 
from which before she was excluded. 

By the three partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 
1795, and by the arrangements of 1815, she acquired 
territory nearly equal in extent to the whole Austrian 
Empire. By various wars and treaties with Turkey, in 
1794, 1783, and 1812, she robbed her of territories equal 
in extent to all that remains of her European dominions, 
and acquired the command of the Black Sea. 

Between 1800 and 1814, she acquired from Persia 
districts at least as large as the whole of England ; from 
Tartary, a territory which ranges over thirty degrees of 
longitude. During this period of 150 years, she has 
advanced her frontier 500 miles towards Constantinople, 
630 miles towards Stockholm, 700 miles towards Berlin 
and Vienna, and 1000 miles towards Teheran, Cabool, 
and Calcutta. One only acquisition she has not yet 
made, though steadily pushing towards it, earnestly desir- 
ing it, and feeling it to be essential to the completion of 
her vast designs and the satisfaction of her natural and 
consistent ambition, namely, — the possession of Constanti- 
nople and Roumelia, — which would give her the most 



NICHOLAS, THE CZAK, 1S55. 255 

admirable harbors and the command of the Levant, and 
would enable her to overlap, surround, menace, and 
embarrass all the rest of Europe. 



NICHOLAS, THE REIGXIXG CZAR. 

Nicholas Paulovitch, the son of Paul the First and 
Maria Feodorowna, is the fifteenth sovereign of the 
Romanoff dynasty. He is of a great height, and is very 
proud of it. His air is serious, his glance wild, even a 
little savage ; his entire physiognomy has something hard 
and stern in it. The Emperor never shows himself but 
in the military costume, the stiffness of which is in perfect 
keeping with his tastes, and which makes his great height 
still more conspicuous. His face and whole deportment 
are noble and commanding. He speaks with vivacity, 
with simplicity, and the most perfect propriety ; all he 
says is full of point and meaning, — no idle pleasantry, not 
a word out of its place. There is nothing in the tone of 
his voice or the arrangement of his phrases that indicates 
haughtiness or dissimulation, and yet every one feels that 
his heart is closed, and its deep secrets studiously con- 
cealed. 

Nicholas has a boundless delight in seeing his soldiers, 
and in reviewing them. He is unsurpassed for the skill 
and despatch with which he passes numerous regiments 
in review, in the Place of Arms, at St. Petersburg. Woe 
to the poor soldier who shall be convicted of a button 
badly fastened, or a buckle out of its place ! The eagle 



256 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

eye of the Emperor will search in the very thickest part 
of the ranks, for infractions of this description, and his 
inflexibility is known. He is, nevertheless, a timid rider, 
and travels by drosky or sledge, in preference to horseback. 

The Emperor leads a life of restless and incessant 
activity. Morning, noon, and night, he is engaged in the 
public business brought beneath his notice from the dif- 
ferent ^sections of the various departments. In private 
life he is free from immoralities, and sets a worthy 
example of conjugal fidelity to all his subjects. 

The Emperor has a Grecian profile, the forehead high, 
but receding ; the nose straight, and perfectly formed ; 
the mouth very finely cut ; the face, which in shape is 
rather a long oval, is noble : the whole air military, and 
rather German than Sclavonic. His carriage and his 
attitude are naturally imposing. He expects always to 
be gazed at, and never for a moment forgets that he is so. 

In Poland, as well as Siberia, incredible cruelties have 
been committed in the name of Nicholas and his com- 
mand. The way in which he is striving to Russianize 
that once free country, will appear from the following 
extract from the " Russian Catechism of Poland," taught 
to Polish children. 

" Question 1. — How is the authority of the Emperor to 
be considered, in reference to the spirit of Christianity ? 

" Answer. — As proceeding immediately from God. 

" Question 17. — What are the supernaturally revealed 
motives for this worship (?'. e. of the Emperor) ? 

" Answer. — The supernaturally revealed motives are, 
that the Emperor is the vice-gerent and minister of God 
to execute the divine commands, and, consequently, 



EMPRESS OF RUSSIA, 1855. 257 

disobedience to the Emperor is identical with disobedience 
to God himself ; that God will reward us in the world to 
come, for the worship and obedience we render the Em- 
peror, and punish us severely to all eternity should we 
disobey or neglect to worship him. Moreover, God com- 
mands us to love and obey from the inmost recesses of the 
heart every authority, and particularly the Emperor, not 
from worldly considerations, but from apprehensions of 
the final judgment." 

The Empress of Bussia, Alexandra, is the daughter of 
Louisa, the queen of Prussia, and sister to the now reign- 
ing King of Prussia. She was born July 13th, 1798. 
Ever since the accession of Nicholas she has been suffering 
from an ill state of health, necessitating frequent travel- 
ling and change of air. She is said to have always 
exercised a beneficial influence over her husband, by 
tempering his passion and his excesses. Though she does 
not possess any superior qualities, the atmosphere in which 
she lives has not been able to efface the good principles 
which she imbibed in the Court of Prussia. The counte- 
nance of the Empress is represented to be mild, radiant, 
and benignant, resembling in its sweetness of expression 
that of a ministering angel. The late Marquis of London 
deny, in his " Tour in the North of Europe," says — " The 
indescribable majesty of deportment and fascinating grace 
that mark this illustrious personage are very peculiar. 
Celebrated as are all the females connected with tho 
lamented and beautiful Queen of Prussia, there is none of 
them more bewitching in manner than the Empress of 
Russia ; nor is there existing, according to all reports, sc 
excellent and perfect a being." 



258 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 



HISTORY OF THE WAR. 

Arrival of Menschikoff at Constantinople — Demands of the Czar — The 
Sultan — Occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia — Conference of Vienna 
— Protest of the Porte — Turkish forces — Commencement of hostilities. 

On the 28th of February, 1853, the Russian ambassador 
Prince Menschikoff arrived at Constantinople, an event 
celebrated with more than eastern pomp, for he was 
escorted from the quay to his hotel by upwards of 7000 
Greeks, whose services had been previously retained. 

Bearing the highest dignities that the Czar can confer, 
imperious in his demeanor, impetuous and overbearing in 
his language, he was well qualified, notwithstanding his 
advanced age, to deal with Orientals, and to execute the 
commission entrusted to him, though he perhaps scarcely 
anticipated the amount of energy latent in the Sultan's 
apparently languid character. 

On the 2d March the Russian Prince, attired in the 
plainest manner without a decoration of any kind, had an 
interview with the Grand Vizier, and was by him referred 
to Fuad Effendi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Fuad 
Effendi had, however, uniformly distinguished himself by 
his determined opposition to the advances of Russia: 
Prince Menschikoff, therefore, haughtily declined to hold 
communication with him. As was expected, Fuad sent 
in his resignation, and great was the consequent delight 
experienced at the Russian embassy. Nor was that satis- 



1'RINCE MENSCHIKOFF, 1853. 259 

faction altogether unfounded, for Fuad Effendi was un 
doubtedly one of the ablest men in Turkey. 

He was succeeded by Rifaat Pacha, a man of considera- 
ble talent, but by no means competent to cope with the 
daring policy of the Czar. Prince Menschikoff, indeed, 
now regarded the game as in his own hands, for he was 
provided with an autograph letter from the Czar, authoriz- 
ing him to treat as a personal insult to Nicholas himself, 
any hesitation on the part of the Sultan or his advisers to 
accept the propositions submitted by him. 

It is evident enough that Russia was at this time ill- 
informed as to the feeling both of England and France 
on the subject of the "Eastern question," or she would 
hardly have ventured to commit herself so far as she did 
in the demands addressed to Rifaat Pacha by Prince 
Menschikoff, on the 19th April, 1853, of which the follow- 
ing is an abstract : 

" 1. A definite firman securing to the Greek Church the 
custody of the key of the Church of Bethlehem ; of the 
silver star pertaining to the altar of the Nativity ; of the 
grotto of Gethsemane (with the admission of the Latin 
priests thereto for the celebration of their rites) ; the 
joint possession by the Greeks and the Latins of the gar- 
dens of Bethlehem. 

" 2. An immediate order on the part of the government 
for the thorough repair of the cupola of the temple of the 
Holy Sepulchre to the satisfaction of the Greek Patriarch. 

" 3. A guarantee for the maintenance of the privileges 
of the Greek Church in the East, and of those sanctuaries 
already in the exclusive possession of that Church, or 
shared by it with others." 



260 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The note containing these demands, and some others of 
minor importance, was couched in rather menacing if not 
insolent language, while the reply of the Porte was firm? 
temperate and dignified ; expressive of its readiness to do 
all that could be fairly demanded of it, and concluding 
with a declaration of its inability to accede to such viola- 
tion of its independence and national rights as was implied 
in the Russian note ; appealing at the same time to the 
emperor's own sense of justice and honor. 

It would be quite superfluous to introduce here all the 
voluminous correspondence that ensued between the two 
Powers. Suffice it to observe, that whatever might have 
been the concessions on the side of the Porte, they would 
evidently have been met by further and still more exorbi- 
tant demands on the part of Russia, as the intention of 
that Power, from the first, was evidently to bring matters 
to an open rupture. Surely for no other purpose could 
the ruler of a vast territory have been suddenly called 
upon, as he had been not long before at five days' notice, 
to divest himself of all authority over many millions of 
his subjects, and to admit, in fact, of a partition of his 
empire. "What the precise designs of Russia were, are 
clearly shown in the following extract of a letter from 
Prince Lieven to Count ISTesselrode : 

" Our policy," said he, " must be to maintain a reserved 
and prudent attitude, until the moment arrives for Russia 
to vindicate her rights, and for the rapid action which she 
will be obliged to adopt. The war ought to take Europe 
oy surjprise (/) Our movements must be prompt, so that 
the other powers should find it impossible to be prepared 

for THE BLOW THAT WE ARE ABOUT TO STRIKE." 



ABDUL J1EDJLD, 185S. 261 

The Cabinets of London and Paris having received 
early intimation of what was going on, and being well 
satisfied that the Greek inhabitants of Turkey needed no 
additional protection, speedily concerted measures for the 
defence of the Ottoman empire and of their own interests. 
The political correspondence now became still more 
involved and prolix ; but as more than mere verbal assur- 
ances were required to satisfy the Porte of the material 
support of the two great Western Powers, the combined 
fleets were directed to anchor in Besika Bay. 

On the 4th June, the Sultan, still desirous of avoiding 
the responsibility of plunging his people into war, ad- 
dressed to all the governments of Europe a notification of 
the necessity he felt himself under, of assuming a defen- 
sive attitude. This is known as the. memorable Hatti- 
sheriff of Gulhany, a document drawn up with much 
ability, evincing considerable firmness and moderation of 
tone, and reflecting great credit on Abdul-Medjicl and his 
advisers. For several years past, indeed, the Sultan has 
been quietly but steadily introducing a series of reforms 
into every department of his government, for which he 
has received little credit from Europe. The strong instinct 
of his predecessor, Mahmoud, had already marked out the 
career to be followed. It was only necessary for Abdul- 
Medjid to wait till he felt himself sufficiently strong to 
advance. As soon as he did, he established a sound sys- 
tem of national education, took measures for guaranteeing 
the security of property, organized an uniform dispensa- 
tion of justice to all classes, not only at Constantinople, 
but in the remotest districts, reserving exclusively in his 
own hands the power of life and death. The taxes, more- 



262 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

over, were assessed and levied far more equitably than 
before, and the abuses which had for a long time been 
accumulating in numerous offices may be now considered 
to be in process of abolition. 

Abdul-Medjid being alive to the importance of his 
mission as the regenerator of a vast empire, the moment 
his independence as a sovereign potentate was menaced, 
he appealed to England and France, assuring them of 
his readiness for immediate war in the defence of a principle. 

The occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia, which took 
place in the course of the summer, was preceded by a 
specious proclamation announcing that it was " but a pro- 
visional measure, and that the sole object of the Russian 
government was efficacious protection in consequence of 
the unforeseen conduct of the Porte, unmindful of the 
earnest desire for a sincere alliance manifested by the 
Imperial Court since the treaty of Adrianople, and of its 
most strenuous efforts to maintain, on the present occa- 
sion, the peace of Europe. 

This proclamation promptly called forth energetic ex- 
planations, both from M. Drouyn de Lhuys and from Lord 
Clarendon (loth and 16th July, 1853). They both clearly 
set out the true history of the Czar's aggression, and make 
no concealment of their resolution to resist it. The inva- 
sion of the Sultan's dominions they maintained to be a 
just cause for the declaration of war ; but as the great 
Powers of the West had already shown the necessity of 
avoiding bloodshed, unless as a last resource, the Sultan 
felt bound to transmit to St. Petersburg a simple protest 
against the insult passed upon him. Russia perhaps mis 
took this moderation for feebleness. 



AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT, 1853. 263 

Late in 1853 came the tedious conference of Vienna, 
with its notes, its projects of notes, its despatches, its ultima 
turns and its ultimatissimums. The result was, the con- 
sumption of a vast amount of time, foolscap, post-horses, 
and government messengers, the concession to Austria of 
much more importance and consideration than she was in 
any way entitled to, and the retention at Besika, till the end 
of November, of the allied fleets, which ought to have 
passed through the Bosphorus more than four months 
before, — on the day, indeed, that the Russians crossed the 
Pruth. The " occupation" which ensued amounted, in fact, 
to the tyrannical assumption by Russia of the government 
of two of the finest provinces in Europe, accompanied by 
such atrocious acts of tyranny, that the English and French 
consuls found it incumbent upon them at once to withdraw. 

Some time after the conclusion of the treaty of Adrian- 
ople, in 1828, Count Nesselrode, writing to the Grand Duke 
Constantine, thus gave expression to the feelings of the 
government of Russia on this subject: — 

" The Turkish monarchy," said he, " is reduced to such 
a state as to exist only under the protection of Russia, 
and must comply in future with her wishes." Then, 
adverting to the Principalities, he says, " The possession 
of these Principalities is of the less importance to us, as 
without maintaining troops there, which would be attended 
with considerable expense, we shall dispose of them at 
our pleasure, as well during peace as in time of war. 
We shall hold the keys of a position from which it will 
he easy to keep the Turkish government in cheek, and the 
Sultan will feel that any attempt to brave us again must 
end in his certain ruin." 



264 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The protest of the Porte against the invasion of these 
provinces bears date the 14th July: from that day till 
the end of September, the conference at Yienna, urged 
chiefly by Austria, had been making strenuous efforts to 
induce the Turkish government to yield to the arrogant 
pretensions of Russia. l$o enviable position, indeed, was 
that of the Sultan: "beset on one side by the friendly 
persuasives of Francis Joseph, and on the other by the 
imperious summons of Nicholas, who was actively in- 
triguing in every direction, through numberless astute 
emissaries, to give rise to a belief that the presence of his 
troops in the Principalities was in conformity to the 
wishes of the population themselves. On the 8th Octo- 
ber, the Grand Vizier (Mustapha Pacha) issued a pro- 
clamation to the inhabitants of Constantinople, highly 
characteristic of the spirit of tolerance which now ani- 
mates the people of the Sultan, and indicative of a degree 
of watchfulness and preparation on the part of the govern- 
ment which could scarcely have been anticipated. This 
proclamation was hailed with enthusiasm, and the whole 
nation, animated by one will, were only too eager to be 
led against their aggressors, or to aid in suppressing all 
attempts, on the part of the Greek population, to adopt 
the inflammatory counsels of the paid emissaries of 
Russia. 

Equal praise is due to the priests of the Greek Church, 
and to the Ulemas, who turned a deaf ear to every attempt 
made to appeal to the fanaticism of their several congre- 
gations. Had they acted differently, the internecine war 
that would have ensued, must have inundated every 
threshold with blood. 



10KKISH FORCES; 1853. 265 

On the eve of the commencement of hostilities, the 
effective Turkish forces on the Danube may be computed 
as follows : 

Infantry 103,000 

Egyptian contingent 13,000 

Regular cavalry . . . . 12 regiments 

Albanians and other irregulars . . 20,000 

Artillery (guns of different calibre), . 40 batteries. 

Omar Pacha, the commander-in-chief,, established his 

head-quarters at Shumla with 50,000 troops. Alim 

Pacha, at Baba-Dagh, in the Dobruscha, headed 25,000. 

Mustapha Pacha, with 30,000, guarded the line of country 

between Sistow and Rustuck ; and Ismail Pacha, with a 

like number, the district between Sistow and Widdin. 

Thirty-five thousand men, besides, were distributed among 

the garrisons of Yarna, Tirnova, Pravardin, and different 

small fortresses along the grim range of the Balkan. 

A reserve of 50,000 was assigned to Rifaat Pacha, who 
was stationed at Sophia, an important town in Bulgaria, 
on the road from Belgrade to Constantinople. 

The whole of Europe — and no country more than Russia 
— had strangely erred in its estimate of the Turkish army. 
Any man who could have been found rash enough to 
have hinted at the possibility of the Sultan's troops stand- 
ing before the " stalwart warriors " from the Don, would 
have been laughed to scorn : yet almost every engage- 
ment, has shown them uniformly triumphant. 

The Turkish army is divided into sections, commanded 
by generals of division, each of whom has under his orders 
three generals of brigade. The division consists of eleven 
regiments, six of infantry, four of cavalry, and one of artil- 



266 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

lery. The available force of a division comprises 20,980 
men ; i. e., 16,800 infantry, 2,880 cavalry, and 1,300 artil- 
lery-men. The infantry regiments are divided into batta- 
lions, and the battalions into companies. The cavalry 
regiments are divided into squadrons. The artillery 
regiments each comprise three horse and nine foot batte- 
ries, numbering altogether seventy-two heavy and four 
" grasshopper guns," about of the same calibre as those 
used at the battle of Buena Yista by General Taylor. 

The Russian army has, for a long time past, been adopt- 
ing from other powers every improvement that could 
advantageously be introduced into those docile but stolid 
ranks, and it was universally supposed to be in the highest 
state of efficiency. Numerically, it was about equal to 
the Turkish army immediately opposed to it. At the time 
to which we allude, Nicholas had, in Georgia and Circas- 
sia, at least 148,000 men, commanded by the venerable 
Prince Woronzow, who does not enjoy a brilliant military 
reputation, but still is considered an experienced soldier, 
and one of the few trustworthy men in the Czar's service. 
Had this large army not been engaged in holding in check 
the hardy and active hordes of Schamyl, it might possibly 
have been available to threaten Constantinople ; but danger 
from the quarter we allude to was never very imminent, 
for the Turks had stationed 148,000 men, in two separate 
armies, on the Asiatic shore of the Black Sea, to cooperate 
with Schamyl, and to observe, at the same time, the 
movements of the enemy. The Turks and the Russians 
had, consequently, about an equal number of troops, both 
upon the Danube and in Asia. 

The first cartridge burnt in anger, was at the affair of 



FIKST SKIRMISH, 1853. 267 

Issatcha, scarcely more than a skirmish between a handful 
of Egyptians and Russians, and leading to no important 
results. The Russian general would fain have confined 
operations — for a time at least — to such skirmishes, from 
his unwillingness to risk the prestige with which the Rus- 
sians had continued hitherto to surround their arms ; but this 
policy accorded not with the views of Omar Pacha, who 
was anxious to elevate the morale of his men, and to prove 
to them, by the most conclusive of all arguments, their 
capability to contend with those whom they had been led 
to regard with so much respect. 



268 EUROPE AND THE ATJ.TE3. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OMEK PACHA. 

Anecdote — His birth — Reforms — Sultan Mahnrud — Enlistment in the 
Turkish army — His application — Expeditions among the wild tribes — 
Appointed Generalissimo — Present high position — Domestic life — Mar- 
riage — Personal habits — Kossuth and Hungarian refugees — War on the 
Danube — Battle of Oltenitza. 

The life of Omer Pacha is connected with perhaps the 
most important j3eriod in the history of Turkey — an epoch 
of transition from the old state of things to the new. 

About twenty-five years ago a young man arrived at 
"Widdin, and asked to see Hussein Pasha, the commander 
of the place. His personal appearance was unusually pre- 
possessing, being at once handsome and majestic. His 
complexion was fair and clear, his eyes soft and penetrat- 
ing, and his limbs pliant and athletic. The Turks, who 
have a superstitious veneration for a fine physiognomy, 
and to whom, therefore, good looks are pre-eminently, as 
Queen Elizabeth said, an excellent letter of recommenda- 
tion, received him with great cordiality and respect. 
Hussein was at this time encamped before "Widdin, and 
living in a superb tent, to which the young stranger was 
directed. He happened unfortunately to get there just as 
Hussein was waking up in no very good humor. 

" "What do you want ?" said he, impatiently, to the 
intruder. 

" To enter your excellency's service," was the reply. 




OMER PACHA. 



OMEIi PACHA, 1830. 269 

" I have too many attendants already. Go away." 

In Turkey it is allowable for people in the humblest 
condition to oiler presents to a distinguished personage 
without any offence. Accordingly, the young man pulled 
a small parcel, carefully done up, out of his pocket, and 
presented it to the pasha, begging him to accept it. 

" What is this ?" said the pasha, when he had opened 
the parcel. 

" Gloves, your excellency ?" 

" And what use are they ?" 

""When you go out in the sun, they will preserve the 
color of your hands (the pasha's were very white), and 
when you are riding, they will prevent them from being 
blistered by the bridle." 

" But how do you put them on ?" 

The young man answered by putting one on the pasha's 
hand. 

" Now the other." 

This also was put on. Hussein then clapped his hands 
three times, and raised them above his head, just as the 
officers of his suite were entering the tent. Thanks to this 
pair of gloves, which were the admiration of the pasha 
and his staff the stranger was admitted into Hussein's 
service. Now this stranger was no other than Latkes, 
now Omer Pasha. 

Of his early life but little is known. His origin is Croa- 
tian ; his native place Ylaski, a village in the district of 
Ogulini, thirteen leagues from Fiume, on the Adriatic 
Sea. He was born in 1801 ; the religion of his forefathers, 
and of his youthful years, was the Greek united faith, 
namely, that branch of the Greek worship subject to the 



270 EUJROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Roman Pontiff. He received a liberal education. His 
father enjoyed the important charge of Lieutenant-Admi- 
nistrator of the district, and his uncle was invested with 
ecclesiastical functions. His instruction in mathematics 
and military engineering he received at the military 
school of Thurm, near Carlstadt, in Transylvania ; and in 
1822, when 21 years of age, after having distinguished 
himself in his studies, he entered the corps of Ponts et 
C'haussees in the Austrian service, with the rank of lieu- 
tenant, that body having just been organized by the 
government. 

At twenty- nine he left the Austrian service; but the 
true cause of his taking this step has always remained a 
mystery. Many attributed it to a family misfortune ; 
some to a quarrel lie had with his superiors, followed by 
acts that would have subjected him to a court-martial. 

Having made his escape, he passed into Bosnia in 1830, 
where he arrived wholly unknown, and it was only with 
difficulty he was able to engage himself as a servant in 
Kosrew Pacha's house, who was then at Bosna-Serai. 

The second reforming Sultan had of late organized his 
troops on a principle of reform, not only as to discipline, 
but also as to the mode of equipment. Only a year, the 
wide and overflowing dress, the majestic turbans, the 
silken shawls and rich furs had given way to the more 
simple fez and to the European pantaloon. He began 
himself to assume that costume. The Ehatti Sherif order- 
ing this change was only promulgated on the 3d of March, 
1829, and the sensation which the new dress occasioned 
among the people did not fail, according to eye-witnesses, 
to draw forth tears and public mourning. 



OMEE PACHA, 1831. 27 1 

All the regular troops of the army he had formed aban- 
doned, whether they liked it or not, the picturesque and 
rich costume, adopted the new uniform, and accepted the 
command of foreign officers. An indispensable condition 
to the advancement of a foreigner in the Turkish service 
was conversion to Islamism, and Latkes became a Mus- 
sulman, under the cognomen of Omer. 

Meanwhile Old Turkey was clamorous in its protests 
against the progress of reform ; nor was it long before its 
indignation broke out into acts of violence and bloodshed. 
Popular fury was often directed against Europeans, who 
were regarded as abetters of reform ; and in August, 1831, 
ten thousand houses belonging to Europeans were a prey 
to the flames. 

It was full time that these seditious demonstrations, and 
the sanguinary scenes enacted under former Sultans, should 
teach prudence to the fortunate, but daring and impetuous 
Mahmud. He felt the necessity of surrounding himself 
with faithful and vigorous-minded friends. He chose men 
qualified both as intelligent advisers and men of action. 
He invited to a great banquet in his palace his great state 
functionaries, the teachers of the law, the professors, 
the officers, the seven generals of the empire, the mag- 
nates of the nation, and the warmest partisans of his 
reforms. With glowing confidence and enthusiasm he 
spoke in the name of the national interest and the public 
cause, and called upon all to sacrifice personal feelings, 
party spirit, and internal divisions, to the fortune and the 
destinies of the empire. Mahmud's unusual familiarity 
astonished the greater number of the bystanders. It was 
an innovation at variance with the dignity of the " Shade 



272 



EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 



of Allah on earth" but all felt themselves individually 
flattered by it. "When the salams that Oriental courtesy 
prescribes had been multiplied to a countless number, at 
a hint given to the Great Master of the Ceremonies, a 
large piece of tapestry was raised, a gate was thrown open, 
and the Sultan invited all to enter. It was a vast hall, 
magnificently lighted. A large number of splendid en- 
signs covered a table inlaid with amber, and upon it lay 
the Prophet's mantle. Al] prostrated themselves before 
the holy ensign ; and by order of Mahmud, the Grand 
Seraskier pronounced a formula, and the sovereign, with 
his own hands, put on his minister's breast the great deco- 
ration of the civil and military order. The ceremony was 
a kind of Masonic inauguration ; the ribbons of the several 
degrees were distributed to all present, who were invited 
to pledge themselves to the Sultan and to each other. 
The mystery attending the meeting had given it a more 
solemn character. All repeated the Grand Seraskier's 
formula ; and the work of the regeneration of the empire 
had commenced. 

This happened in October, 1831. 

That Grand Seraskier was Kosrew Pacha, in whose ser- 
vice the Croat fugitive Latkes, now Mussulman Omer, had 
lived for the last year. 

Eight years afterwards, on the 3d of ISTovember, 1839, 
the same hall was opened in broad day, and there, with 
all the solemnity of a national ceremony, the warmest 
supporters of Old Turkey, Sheik-ul-Islam, (the chief of the 
faith,) and the members of the body of Ulemas, who before 
the same holy shrine were sworn on the hands of the Mufti 
(ecclesiastical president) to observe the Tanzimat, were 



NATIONAL CEREMONY. 1889. 273 

assembled. The ashes of Mali urn d were still warm: it 
was the first act of the reign of Abdul Medjid. The vic- 
tory had been rapid : Young Turkey had. on that day, 
triumphed over Old Turkey. 

In the gardens called Gul-hane, near the kiosks of the 
palace, Rescind Pacha proclaimed the new organization 
of the empire, granting concessions " to all subjects, of 
whatever sect or religion." That act so celebrated, vir- 
tually abolished capital punishment, by reserving the 
right of pronouncing it to the Sultan alone, who has never 
had recourse to it. The political, civil, and moral cha- 
racter of the Turks was raised by this memorable charter 
to a high standard. 

"Well aware of obstacles which they would have to 
encounter, Mahnrad's friends determined to select the 
proper moment for action. Ivosrew Pacha, who was more 
earnest than any other in the cause, did not miss the 
opportunity of availing himself of Omer-Aga, whose 
ardent and restless character appeared to have no ambi- 
tion but to have a field open to his energetic activity. In 
Turkey, nobility is not the result of birth, but mostly the 
gift of favor, sometimes of riches, seldom of merit. One 
of the most remarkable examples of ennobled Turks was 
Kosrew Pacha himself, who had been bought in the 
slave-bazaar. The manners of the highest personages do 
.not differ from those of the lowest, and their family life is 
distinguished by great simplicity and benevolence, even 
towards the slaves. Moreover, the curiosity which a 
foreigner awakens everywhere, and more than anywhere 
else in Turkey, made the Pacha desirous of having fre- 
quent interviews with the l^nk convert, who by his wit, 



274 ETJB0PE AND THE ALLIES. 

the originality of his manners, and the singularity of his 
position, had become the subject of daily talk. The 
interviews with the Pacha succeeded each other ; Omer's 
military knowledge made itself manifest ; his independent 
character, his talent, his boldness of conception, and 
power of carrying out his plans, forcibly attracted the 
attention of the Pacha. Omer made his former position 
and misfortune known; he interested, he pleased; the 
Pacha's protection was insured to him, and he enlisted in 
the army of Turkish Regeneration. 

Favored by the protection of Sultan Mahmud, to whom 
Kosrew Pacha had introduced him, after having been aide- 
de-camp to the Pacha, then aide-de-camp and interpreter 
to General Chzarnowsky, lastly an officer of the Imperial 
Guard; dissatisfied with the slow progress of his party, 
which was continually thwarted by provincial insurrec- 
tions, he asked to be permitted to try his fortune in some 
of the expeditions which were continually being made, and 
began his military career in 1836. Bosnia, Servia, and 
Bulgaria were successively the theatres of his exploits. 

From that day he applied himself to improving the 
efficiency of his army, paying attention not only to the 
discipline, but also to the education, of the soldier. The 
Mussulman, good and meek-hearted by nature, never 
ferocious but in individual cases, was raised by him to the 
self-consciousness of human dignity, by regulations, ordi- 
nances, and laws, calculated to make him cognisant of the 
rights, and conversant with the duties that belong to every 
one, in every state of life. Self-esteem — a feeling that, 
being once awakened from a long lethargy, soon endears 
itself to every man — discipline, and Omer's benevolent 



OMER PACHA, 1839. 275 

disposition even towards the lowest of his soldiers, caused 
him to be loved by them more as a father than as a 
general. 

After Mahmud's decease, his expeditions continued 
under the new Sultan. In Albania, in Bosnia once more, 
in Syria, in the Kurdistan, among the wild tribes of the 
Eavendus, Romelia, in the Moldo-Wallachian Princi- 
palities, and in Montenegro, he was distinguished in both 
a military and civil capacity. Having adopted Turkey 
as a second country, he loved and loves her, not as a war- 
rior merely, but as the member of a family which power- 
ful enemies are attempting to disorganize and destroy. 
Before lighting, he always tried to conciliate ; com- 
pelled to employ force, he never abused victory, to 
assuage either the resentment or • the cupidity of his 
troops. 

In a work so difficult as the regeneration of an entire 
nation, he had many fellow-laborers. Amongst them the 
h'rst undoubtedly was an eminent man, whose talents as 
a diplomatist London and Paris have had occasion to 
notice, and whom they have since been able to appre- 
ciate as a statesman : we mean Rescind Pacha. We call 
him a companion, and not the chief of the enterprise ; for 
Rescind Pacha, indeed, tried to transplant European civi- 
lization to the empire, though by measures which would 
have had no immediate utility without the activity of 
Omer Pacha. 

In the midst of many labors, he ran through all the 
degrees of the army, till he obtained the rank of the 
highest in the Ottoman service. Invested with the great 
decoration of the Nichani-Iftikhar by Sultan Mahmud ; 



270 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

with that of the Mejidie* by Sultan Abdul Medjid; and, 
lastly, presented at Shumla with a sword of honor, he 
could not avoid making bitter enemies. Old Turkey was 
continually "watching him with envious rancor; but he 
shrewdly flattered its apostles when he thought it proper 
for his purpose ; overpowered them with generosity, when 
an exchange of hostilities would have injured his cause ; 
and openly set them at defiance when dissembling would 
have been weakness, and silence an act of cowardice. 

At this hour he is the first general of the Ottoman army, 
and millions of eyes are anxiously turned towards him. 
If the past may afford a clue to judge of the future, the 
fortune of Omer Pacha has been constant for so many 
years as to leave no doubt of his ability. So brilliant, so 
important and high a position is not reached from the 
lowest condition, without one's being possessed of merit, 
and that in an eminent degree. 

His domestic life is very far from being tainted with 
the debauchery that is generally attributed, and often 
falsely, to the private conduct of the Moslems. He has 
had no more than two wives ; and although he was 
allowed to have them contemporaneously, he did not 
marry the second until after his divorce from the former. 
This was a Turkish woman, daughter of an Aga of the 
Janissaries, who died in 182S, and was a pupil of his pro- 
tector, Kosrew Pacha. Emancipated from the severe 
restraint of the harem to the liberty ^f European customs, 
she abused it, and forced her husband to a separation. 

* This is a decoration instituted by Abdul-TSfedjid after his father's 
example. It is of simple enamelled gold, divided into five classes, aud 
bearing an inscription, engraved in Turkish -words — Ghairet, Sadakat, 
Hamiet (Courage, Fidelity, Zeal). 



OMER PACHA, 1865. 277 

The second is a European, and was a very young maid, 
of a mild and virtuous character, when he saw her first, 
and married her at Bucharest, where she was exercising, 
at fourteen years of age, the profession of a teacher of the 
pianoforte. She is from Oronstadt in Transylvania, and 
her name is Anna Sinionich. lie has no offspring but a 
natural daughter, born of an Arabian slave in Syria. A 
male child, the fruit of his new marriage, died at four 
months of age, crushed under a carriage upset in the 
passage from Travnich to Saraievo. He has, therefore, as 
yet, no probability of being remembered in his adopted 
country but by his deeds. 

In Omer Pacha may be traced many of the essentials 
of a great general. He takes a warm interest in the wel- 
fare of his men, and knows how to earn their goodwill ; 
at the same time that he treats them with a degree of 
severity bordering upon harshness. Like Buonaparte, he 
is fond of those short, quick, terse addresses, which, in a 
moment, electrify an entire army, and is consequently 
regarded with veneration by his troops, who yield him 
the most implicit obedience. 

His habits are simple and frugal ; he is active and 
indefatigable in business ; of an upright, benevolent, and 
gentle character, with a somewhat nervous and excitable 
temperament ; often generous, sometimes prodigal, always 
absolute, and little accustomed to being contradicted in 
his opinions. He is fifty-three years of age ; he is tall 
and thin, has a martial bearing, an expressive and marked 
physiognomy, a quick and penetrating eye, a nose a little 
compressed, a thick and grey beard, a large head — a 
perfectly Croatian type. 



278 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Engaged in all the struggles of the two parties during 
the most important period of their existence, the principal 
instrument of progress and of Young Turkey, he always 
regretted the necessity of drawing the sword against his 
fellow-subjects. It was farthest from his wish to tinge it 
with blood, even to impose what was, if not the common 
desire, the common advantage, namely, the improvement 
of society in all its developments. But of these ill-omened 
seditions, Turkish subjects were the arms, while the head 
was invisible, and kept itself in security from his blows, 
beyond the frontiers. 

Often, even far from the noise of arms, he baffled the 
plots of the insidious enemies of Turkey. The most 
enviable of his bloodless victories was the cause of 
Kossuth and the Hungarian refugees, whom he met at 
Shumla, whither he had purposely repaired. He espoused 
their cause before the Sultan and the ministers of the 
Porte. The Sultan's sentiments regarding them were not 
less noble than his own ; but his protection had for its 
object to neutralize the effect of foreign threats, lest, by 
the Sultan's yielding to them, the cause of progress should 
be deprived of the most valuable accession of material 
and intellectual forces which the new-comers might 
confer on it. His wishes, owing especially to the inter- 
vention of the English fleet, were crowned with success, 
and he succeeded in taking many of them under his com- 
mand. The immigration, indeed, of Italians, Hungarians, 
and Poles, has been no inconsiderable help to the progress 
of Turkey in late years. The popular sentiment hailed 
them, because they were the enemies of its enemies ; and 
the accession of elements so free, so ardent, and enthusi- 



OiTER PACHA, 1855. 279 

astic for the cause that drew them to exile, added an 
immense and rapid impetus to the reform party. They 
caused no little uneasiness to Russia and Austria, who, in 
every negotiation with Turkey, even in the last question, 
always insisted on the banishment of the political refu- 
gees to Asia. Russia fears only civilized men, and there- 
fore she must be met by civilization dressed up in its full 
armor. Turkish civilization would give her the greatest 
annoyance : not to thwart it by every possible means 
would be an eternal remorse ; and not to succeed in crush- 
ing it in the bud would be followed by the bitterest regrets. 

The internal contest has now disappeared before the 
external, and Omer Pacha beholds united under his 
banner both old and young Turkey. 

Long and difficult was the line of country he had to 
defend along the Danube, but his preparations were well 
taken, aud the Russians could scarcely have crossed at 
any point without encountering a well-served battery, 
and, had they even succeeded in penetrating to the Bal- 
kan, they would have found every height bristling with 
fortifications, every defile in the possession of an intrepid 
foe. The successes of the Russians in 1S28-29 depended 
mainly upon causes which no longer exist. They had 
then the undisputed mastery of the Black Sea ; the 
Turkish navy had just been annihilated ; and the Mussul- 
man army was wholly without organization. The reverse 
of this was now the case, and the battle of Oltenitza was 
an earnest of many reverses they were doomed subse- 
quently to sustain. 

The Ottoman general, alive to the impolicy of allowing 
Russian and Austrian intrigue free scope for action during 



280 EUKOPE AND the allies. 

the winter, and aware that his own men could not but 
become, to a great extent, demoralized by remaining for 
five months in sight of an arrogant foe, boldly determined 
to take the initiative, and to attempt, by force of arms, 
that which diplomacy had been unable to achieve. 

Observing at a glance the immense importance of as- 
suming a strong position before Kalafat (in Lesser "VValla- 
chia, opposite Widdin), whence he could effectually 
exclude the Russians from Servia, he adopted a plan for 
dividing simultaneously the attention and the forces of his 
adversary. While, therefore, a hostile division advanced, 
in Lesser Wallachia, upon Crajowa and Slatina, Omer 
Pacha prepared to land a large body of troops at Giur- 
gevo, and a still larger detachment at Oltenitza. The 
attempt on Giurgevo, possibly intended only as a feint, 
was unsuccessful, but at Oltenitza the manoeuvre was 
brilliantly accomplished. 

Early on the morning of the 2d November, 1853, the 
Turks, to the number of 9000, crossed the Danube, between 
Turtukai and Oltenitza, a small village occupied by the 
Russians, who, as soon as they perceived the design of the 
Mussulmans, made a vigorous but futile resistance. Omer 
Pacha's troops, eager for the fray, leaped from the boats, 
long before they touched the bank, fought hand to hand 
with their antagonists in the water, soon carried the 
quarantine building, and fortified it with fascines. 

The precision with which these various movements were 
effected, sufficiently attested the presence of the Turkish 
commander-in-chief. 

The Russian General Danenberg, having been informed 
of this movement by the Turks, arrived, to direct in per 



THE SKIRMISH AT OLTENITZA, 1853. 281 

son measures for driving them back into the Danube. 
Eleven thousand Russians, under the command of PaulofF, 
were accordingly hastily collected, and, early on the 4th 
November, they commenced their attack. A brisk can- 
nonade took place for some time on both sides. The 
Turks, quitting their entrenchments, threw out swarms of 
sharpshooters, and compelled a hussar regiment to take 
shelter in the rear of the infantry. The sharpshooters 
then formed into battalions, made several smart bayonet 
charges, and reentered their entrenchments. 

General Danenberg, astonished to find that an enemy 
he had held in such utter contempt should display so much 
courage and such knowledge of tactics, was desirous of 
bringing matters to a crisis ; but, by an unlucky manoeuvre, 
he got entangled in difficult ground between two fires, 
which occasioned considerable slaughter among his ranks. 
After four hours' hard fighting he was compelled to retreat, 
with the loss of a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and twenty- 
four other officers, besides 370 rank and file killed, and 857 
wounded. 

Omer Pacha held the position thus acquired till the 
11th of November, when, without any further molestation 
from the enemy, he voluntarily retired to the right bank 
of the Danube ; the Turks having meanwhile strengthened 
and fortified their camp at Kalafat. 

The affair at Oltenitza produced a surprising effect at 
Constantinople, and indeed throughout the whole Turkish 
empire. After a century of reverses, the Turks had 
achieved a victory over a nation which had long treated 
them with disdain, and had always ridiculed their achieve- 
ments in the field. The printing-office of the official 



282 EUKOPB AND THE ALLIES. 

Gazette, and all the streets leading to it, were crowded 
with eager thousands, anxious to obtain copies of the sup- 
plement containing the details of the light. 

By a curious concidence, on the same day and at the 
very hour that the battle of Oltenitza was being fought, 
the Sultan, who had announced his intention of heading 
the army in the spring, was being invested, at the mosque 
of the Sultan Mohamed, according to the Turkish ritual, 
with the title of Ghazi, or warrior, a dignity conferred on 
those Sultans who go forth for the first time to battle. 

At Petersburg the dismay occasioned by the action of 
Oltenitza was so great, that the Czar gave immediate 
orders for those measures which resulted in the foul mas- 
sacre of Sinope, as though he were desirous, by a deeper 
stain, to efface the dishonor his arms had already incurred. 

Some days before the period fixed upon for the com- 
mencement of hostilities between Turkey and Russia, the 
Circassians had already matured their plans, and were 
prepared to take up arms vigorousl} 7- against the troops of 
the Czar. But in Asia the enemies of Russia have 
scarcely been as successful as might have been antici- 
pated, when their natural prowess, continued exercise in 
arms, and indomitable character, is taken into account. 
~No deficiency of military ardor can, however, be imputed 
to men, who for upwards of fifty years have successfully 
resisted all attempts at subj ligation, and have baffled the 
strategy of Russia's ablest generals. The chief reason 
why, in the present instance, they have not achieved any 
very signal success, has been the difficulty they have 
encountered in communicating with the sea-board, and 
in obtaining an adequate supply of ammunition and arms. 



CHAPTER X. 

SCHAMTL, THE PROPHET- WARRIOR OF THE CAUCASUS. 

Caucasus — Character of the Tribes — Circassian Slave Trade — Birth of 
Schamyl — Personal Appearance — Form of Government — His Army and 
Body-Guard — Financial Rule — Struggles with Russia — Personal Habits 
— Legend — Circassian Women in Battle — Escape from the Russians. 

The valleys of the Caucasus afford abundance of detached 
rocks and overhanging cliffs, bathed by the foaming moun- 
tain torrents. On these or other almost inaccessible 
spots, are perched, like eagles' nests, the aouls or villages 
of the natives. Each consists of a number of saklias — 
houses built of loose fragments of rocks without mortar, 
and arranged in an amphitheatrical form. Those of the 
chiefs are larger, and are distinguished by the addition of 
high towers ; the last refuge of the inhabitants in case of 
attack. 

The hardy and frugal mountaineers support them- 
selves by pasturage, and by the cultivation of barley, 
wheat, and maize, making the best of the scanty soil by 
carefully terracing and irrigating it. In the more favored 
districts, the vine is grown with success ; and cherry, 
apple, and pear orchards form no inconsiderable part of 
the wealth of the inhabitants. Some villages are cele- 
brated for the manufacture of weapons and mail-shirts ; 
and throughout the mountains the greatest attention is 
paid to the breed of the horses, hardy, sure-footed animals, 



284 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

as much valued by their active enemies, the Cossacks, as 
bj the Caucasians themselves. 

The Caucasian character has all the good and all the 
evil features common among semi-savage mountaineers. 
Possessed of the most daring courage, and capable of 
self-devotion to their chiefs altogether without parallel ; 
chivalrous in open warfare, and true to the last to any en- 
gagement by which they consider themselves fairly 
pledged; frugal and temperate in their ordinary habits; 
honorable and affectionate in their domestic relations ; they 
are, nevertheless, to an enemy, or, indeed, to an outsider of 
any kind, both ruthless and bloodthirsty, seeming to be 
actuated by but two motives — love of bloodshed and 
love of gain. A story of Wagner's well illustrates this. 
A Tcherkess made his appearance before the commandant 
of one of the forts on the Black Sea, and stated that, for a 
consideration, he was willing to give some important 
information. This turned out to be, that an attack on the 
fort had been arranged by a large body of his country- 
men to take place on an appointed day ; and as it was 
totally unexpected by the Russians, it would probably 
have resulted in their destruction. The commandant 
agreed to pay the reward, but detained the Tcherkess 
until his statements were verified. Sure enough, on the 
very day a large body of mountaineers attacked the fort, 
but found their enemies on the %lert, and were repulsed 
with loss. The Tcherkess received his reward the day 
after, and was dismissed with thanks. Not many yards 
from the fort, a Russian soldier, unarmed, was busied in 
some occupation. The Tcherkess could not resist the 
opportunity, but shot him, and bounded away into the hills ! 



CIRCASSIAN SLAVE-TKAFFIC, 1855. 285 

In mind as in feature, there are considerable differences 
between the Eastern and "Western Caucasians. The 
Western is distinguished by the beauty of his form and 
features, the fairness of his complexion, the open, dash- 
ing, careless, European cast of his character. The Asiatic 
element, on the other hand, predominates in the Eastern 
tribes. Darker in skin, the eagle eye is deeper set, and 
its uncertain glitter suggests the suspicion that the 
passions of a fierce fanatic lie beneath the imagination 
of a mystic. 

The well-known Circassian slave-traffic is carried on by 
the western tribes only ; but it is very different from the 
slave dealing with which England and America have 
been polluted. Among the Circassians themselves, matri- 
mony is an affair of traffic, and the lover buys his wife of 
her respectable parents. With the Circassian girls, there- 
fore, it is a question whether they are bought to work 
hard and live miserably at home, or whether they are 
bought to have an " establishment" at the expense of 
some Turkish Pasha. They are not sold to slave or to 
be ill-treated ; and it is said that they almost invariably 
look forward to their Turkish prospects with great delight, 
and for that end brave the miseries of the Black Sea 
passage with pleasure. 

Schamyl, the devoted Murid, became Imam and Sultan 
of the Eastern Caucasus, " the second prophet of Allah." 
in the year 1834:, and, from that time till the present, has 
baffled the whole forces of Russia. Born in 1797, 
Schamyl grew up amidst all those influences which would 
best fit him to be the future leader of his people. From 
his earliest childhood, his silent earnest ways, intense 



286 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

determination and love of knowledge, distinguished him 
among his fellows, and Spartan habits and a strong will 
compensated the natural defects of a delicate physical 
organization. He is of middle stature, has fair hair, gray 
eyes overshadowed by thick, well-marked eyebrows, a 
regular, well-formed nose, and a small mouth. A pecu- 
liar fairness and delicacy of skin distinguishes his 
countenance from that of his fellow-countrymen, and his 
feet and hands are singularly well shaped. The apparent 
immovability of his arms in walking indicates the deter- 
mination of his character. His manner is noble and 
dignified. Perfectly master of himself, he exercises a 
silent influence over all who come into contact with him. 
A stern impassivity, which is undisturbed even in mo- 
ments of the greatest danger, is his characteristic expres- 
sion. A condemnation to death falls from his lips with 
the same calmness as he shows in conferring on a brave 
Murid the sabre of honor won in some sanguinary fight. 
"With traitors or other offenders, whose death he has once 
determined upon, he converses without manifesting a 
shade of angry or vengeful feeling. He regards himself 
as simply the instrument in the hands of a higher power, 
and holds that all his thoughts and decisions are the 
immediate inspiration of God. His eloquence is as fiery 
and persuasive as his ordinary manner is calm and com- 
manding. 

Of a mob of scattered tribes, divided by innumerable 
feuds, he has made a nation capable of the most complete 
unity of action, and animated by one faith; and his 
genius as a lawgiver is as preeminent as his religious 
enthusiasm. With a strong hand he has swept away all 



BUflAMYL THE PEOPHET WAEEIOK, 1S55. 287 

the old boundaries of race and tribe, however consecrated 
by tradition, and has completely reorganized the country 
over which he rules. It is divided into twenty districts, 
each of which is governed by an officer termed a Naib, 
whose business it is to preserve order ; to superintend the 
proper raising of taxes and recruits ; to limit and control 
disputes and blood-feuds ; and to see that the Scharyat is 
strictly fulfilled. Every five of these districts, again, are 
under the superintendence of a Governor, uniting within 
himself the spiritual and temporal power, and answerable 
to Schamyl alone, who allows to certain of his favorites 
only, absolute power over life and death ; while the others 
must refer to himself in such cases. Each Naib has a 
deputy or coadjutor. In every village there is a Cadi or 
Elder, whose duty it is to make regular reports to his Naib 
of all important occurrences, and to carry out the orders 
which he may receive from him, while the local Mollah 
has the spiritual care of the village. Every man capable 
cf bearing arms has right of access to his Cadi or Naib at 
a fixed time of the day, when audiences are held and 
business transacted. Rapid communication through all 
parts of the country is insured by a sort of flying post. 
In each village several swift horses are kept saddled and 
bridled, and when a state messenger arrives, bearing a 
passport sealed by the ISTaib of the district, it is the busi- 
ness of the Cadi to furnish him instantly with a fresh 
horse and a guide to the next post. In this way Schamyl's 
messages and orders are transmitted with incredible 
swiftness. 

The standing army of five or six thousand men is thus 
kept up ; every ten houses of a village must maintain a 



288 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

warrior, one house providing the man, and the other nine 
his horse, accoutrements, and support. The family to 
which he belongs is, so long as he is alive, free of all 
taxes, but he must never be without his arms, and must 
be ready, day and night, to march at a moment's notice. 
Furthermore, every male from fifteen to fifty is liable to 
be called out for the defence of his village, or, in extra- 
ordinary cases, to the general army ; and in the latter 
case, each horseman of ten houses commands the men of 
those houses. 

Schamyl's body-guard is composed of a selection from 
the Murids, and its members are called Murtosigators. 
Only the hottest enthusiasts among the Murids, men of 
whose entire devotion Schamyl is well assured, are chosen 
for this post, which is considered among the Caucasians to 
be in the highest degree honorable. The prophet puts the 
most implicit confidence in those whom he ha3 once 
selected, and they on the other hand renounce every tie, 
and place their lives in his hand. If unmarried, they 
must remain so ; and if married, they must strictly avoid 
their families during their period of service. Like Schamyl 
himself, they must live frugally, and carry out the Schar- 
yat to the very letter. They wear peculiar insignia, and 
receive regular pay, with a share of all spoils ; there are 
usually about one thousand of them, five hundred of whom 
always surround Schamyl's person, access to which is very 
difficult. In time of peace, the Murtosigators are Scha- 
nfyl's apostles, and considerable sums are placed at their 
disposal for the carrying out of their propaganda. At the 
same time, they form a most efficient body of police, 
whose accusations might at once destroy the most pow- 



SCHAMYL THE PROPHET WAEEIOE, 1855. 289 

erful Naib. In war, they constitute the heart of Schamyl's 
troops and the terror of the Russians, who have never yet 
succeeded in taking one alive. 

At first, Schamyl had no revenue but what was derived 
from his razzias ; but, at present, all the tribes pay a 
yearly tithe, and if any slain warrior leaves no direct heir, 
his property goes to the state. 

Schamyl's financial rule is ordinarily distinguished by 
extreme economy, and he is said to possess large con- 
cealed treasures : but if a valorous action is to be rewarded, 
or a hostile tribe won over, he will expend great sums. 
He has instituted a regular system of decorations, con- 
sisting of medals, epaulettes, and stars ; while, on the other 
hand, his criminal code contains a no less exactly propor- 
tioned series of punishments, from the rag tied round the 
right arm, which is the stigma affixed to the coward — to 
decapitation, shooting, and stabbing to death. A stern 
and even-handed justice characterizes all Schamyrs judg- 
ments, and he would long since have fallen a victim to 
the blood-feuds thus created against himself, were it not 
for the watchful devotion of his body-guard, the Murto- 
sigators, who constantly surround him in public. The 
Imam gave once in his own person a frightful earnest of 
his determination to know no distinction of persons among 
the violators of his laws. Early in his career, he made a 
solemn vow that he would put to death whoever, under 
any circumstances, proposed to him submission to the 
Giaour. The people of Tchetchenia were well acquainted 
with the Imam's oath; but in 1843, finding themselves 
threatened on all sides by the Russians, and at the same 
time left without aid by Schamyl, who was otherwise 



290 EUROPE AND THE AELIES. 

occupied, they in despair sent messengers to the latter, 
begging him either to help them, or to allow them to 
submit. The office of the envoys was regarded as so 
hazardous, that their selection was made by the lot. It 
fell upon four men of the village Gunoi, who accordingly 
set out upon their mission. Before reaching Dargo, 
Schamyl's residence, however, the prospect of success 
appeared so slight, and the consequences of failure so 
appalling, that they determined to " eke the lion's with 
the fox's skin," and without making any direct proposition 
to Schamyl himself, to endeavour to influence him through 
his aged mother, the Khaness, who was known to possess 
great influence over her son, and at the same time to be, 
like all the mountaineers, by no means insensible to 
money. A large bribe engaged the Khaness to undertake 
the dangerous task ; and in a private interview she opened 
the matter to the Imam. What occurred between mother 
and son is unknown, but when the men of Gunoi anx- 
iously inquired the result of the negotiation, the Khaness, 
pale and trembling, could only tell them that her son had 
determined to inquire of Allah concerning their request — 
and even as they spoke, it was proclaimed that the Imam 
had shut himself in the mosque, and had commanded that 
all the people should gather about it and remain fasting 
and praying till he reappeared. Three days and nights, it 
is said, did Schamyl remain invisible, the prostrate mul- 
titude without rising higher and higher in fanatical exal- 
tation, as their bodily frames became exhausted. On the 
fourth morning, Schamyl appeared on the flat roof of the 
mosque, surrounded by his Murids. All viewed with 
dismay his usually impassive countenance, distorted and 



SCHAMYl's MOTHER, 1836. 291 

changed by the traces of some past inward agon) 7 . After 
an interval of profound silence, he directed the nearest 
Muriels to bring his mother into his presence, and when 
she had arrived, he thus addressed the people : " The will 
of the Prophet of Allah be done ! People of Dargo, the 
Tchetchenes have dared to think of yielding to the Giaour, 
and have even ventured to send messengers, hoping for 
my consent. The messengers, conscious of their sin, dared 
not appear before my face, but have tempted the weakness 
of my unhappy mother to be their mediator. For her 
sake, I have ventured, aided by your prayers, to ask the 
will of Mohammed the Prophet of Allah ; and that will is, 
that the first who spoke to me of this matter shall be 
punished with a hundred blows of the heavy whip. It 
was my mother !" 

With these words, Schamyl signed to his Murids, who 
seized the venerable old Khaness, and bound her to one 
of the pillars of the mosque. At the fifth blow, she sank 
dead. Schamyl, with a wild outburst of grief, threw him- 
self at her feet ; but suddenly rising again, cried solemnly 
— " God is great, and Mohammed is his prophet ! he hath 
heard my prayer, and I may take upon myself the re- 
mainder of my mother's expiation I" With that, stripping 
off his upper garments, he commanded the Murids to 
inflict the remaining ninety -five blows upon his own back. 
The punishment fulfilled, Schamyl gave orders that the 
envoys of the Tchetchenes, terror-stricken witnesses of the 
preceding scene, should be brought into his presence. 
The ready Murids half drew their schaskas ; but Schamyl, 
raising the men of Gunoi from the ground on which they 
had cast themselves in an agony of fear, said only, in his 



292 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

calm, impassive way, " Go back to your people ; and for 
my answer, tell them what you have seen to-day." 

Schamyl is simple and abstemious in the extreme in hi? 
personal habits. Contenting himself with a few hours 
sleep, he sometimes spends night after night in prayer and 
watching without showing the least symptoms of wea- 
riness. JSTot yet sixty, he is full of life and vigor ; though 
at present he takes an active share in the war only 
rarely, and on great occasions. He lives in Dargo, where 
he has caused the enemy's deserters to build him a two- 
storied house in the Kussian fashion, and is said to have 
three wives, the chief of whom is an Armenian of great 
beauty. 

Once, or at most twice, in the year, the Imam retires to 
some remote cave, or shuts himself up in his most private 
apartments, and a strong cordon of watchful Murtosigators 
prevents any person whatever from having access to him. 
In this solitude he spends three weeks— fasting, praying, 
and reading the Koran. On the evening of the last day 
of his seclusion, the principal Mollahs and Murids, accom- 
panied by a host of pilgrims, gathered in high expectation 
about the holy place, are summoned to meet him. He 
tells them that Mohammed has appeared to him in the 
form of a dove, revealing the mysteries of the faith, laying 
upon him such and such commands, and encouraging him 
to persevere in the holy war. Then showing himself to 
the throng without, he addresses them with the eloquence 
for which he is famed, rousing to the highest pitch their 
religious devotion and their hatred against the Muscovites. 
The whole assembly now joins in a solemn hymn. The 
men draw their schaskas, renew their oath to defend the 



CAUCASIANS AND RUSSIANS, 1839. 203 

faith and to destroy the Russians, and then disperse, 
shouting, " God is great ! Mohammed is his first prophet, 
and Sehamyl his second !" 

The total population of the Caucasus does not exceed a 
million and a half, and Schamyl's rule does not extend 
over mcfre than six hundred thousand souls. The force 
under his command at any time, even taking the Russian 
accounts, has never surpassed twenty thousand men. 

In the last ten years the Russian army of the Caucasus 
lias consisted of more than one hundred and fifty thousand 
men, provided with every appliance of modern warfare, 
flanked right and left by sea-coasts commanded by their 
own cruisers, and directed by a government utterly regard- 
less of human life. Fevers and Caucasian bullets are said 
to cost the Russians twenty thousand men yearly ; and 
when the Czar sends a political offender into the ranks of 
the recruits for the Caucasus, he does not expect to see 
him again. The Russian ordnance accounts for the year 
1840, show an expenditure of 11,344 artillery cartridges, 
and 1,206,575 musket cartridges! 

The people of the Caucasus are said to have a legend 
that some day a powerful Sultan will arise in the West, 
and finally deliver them from the hands of the Muscovite 
padischah. 

In 1839, the severest conflicts which had yet occurred 
between the Caucasians and their enemies the Russians 
took place. General Grabbe, an active officer, had suc- 
ceeded to the command of the left flank of the arm\ 
of the Caucasus, and determining to strike a decisive 
blow, concentrated a force of nine battalions, with seven- 
teen pieces of artillery, and marched to attack Akhulgo. 



294 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The assault took place on the 17th of August, when the 
Russians succeeded in obtaining possession of the outworks 
of the fortress. For the ensuing four days, Akhulgo was 
a scene of horror. In a succession of attacks, the Russiar. 
soldiers displayed that ferocious bravery which they 
evince whenever sufficient blood has been shed to wash 
the serf out of their hearts — while the mountaineers, mad 
with rage and despair, and hopeless of life, made their 
last aim the destruction of as many as possible of the 
accursed Muscovites — the very women fighting like 
tigresses. A Russian eye-witness says : 

Shortly before the end of the fight, following Captain 
(now Colonel) Schultz, the boldest among the brave, at 
the head of the remains of my battalion, I climbed a steep 
ascent. The firing from above had ceased; the wind 
dispersed the dense clouds of smoke which, like a curtain, 
hung between us and the fortress, and over my head I 
saw a number of Circassian women standing on a little 
flat platform in the face of the rock. The closer and 
closer approach of our troops showed them too surely 
their fate, but, determined not to fall alive into our 
hands, they spent their last strength in destroying their 
enemies. Surrounded by the smoke, which grew clearer 
as we approached, they looked like avenging spirits born 
of the clouds, and scattering fear and destruction from the 
mountain side. In the heat of the fight, they had thrown 
off their upper garments, and their long thick hair streamed 
in wild disorder over their half-bared necks and bosoms. 
With superhuman exertion, four of these women contrived 
to roll down a vast stone, which came thundering towards 
us. passing within a few feet of me, and crushing several 



ESCAPE OF SCHAMYL, 1839. 295 

of my soldiers. I saw a young woman who till then had 
been, with fixed eyes, a quiet spectator of the bloody 
tragedy, suddenly grasp the little child that clung to her 
garments ; I saw her dash its head to pieces against a pro- 
jecting rock, and hurling it, with a wild shriek, down the 
abyss, leap after it. Many of the other women followed 
her example. 

Akhulgo was taken, but Schamyl was not to be found 
in it, dead or alive. The Russian officers, however, had 
seen him, surrounded by his Murids, in the thickest of the 
fight, and knew he must be there. After awhile, intelli- 
gence was received that he and two or three of his Murids 
were concealed in a cave excavated in a face of the cliff 
overlooking the Koissu, permitting of access only by a 
ladder, which they had drawn after them. A considera- 
ble body of men, horse and foot, was immediately set to 
watch the mouth of the cave, whence, on the first dark 
night, the guard observed a small raft of planks being 
very carefully lowered by a rope into the Koissu ; a Murid 
followed, who, after appearing to look carefully in all 
directions, made a signal ; then followed another ; and at 
last came a third in the white garb of Schamyl. The raft 
was cut adrift, and the whole party dashed down the 
stream of the Koissu. In an instant, the Russians, who 
had carefully watched the whole proceedings, rushed 
upon them. The infantry fired from the bank, and the 
Cossack cavalry waded and swam their horses into the 
Koissu. The little crew of the raft, after defending itself 
with tenacity, was soon cut and shot down ; but when the 
Russians examined their corpses, Schamyl was not there. 
While everv one's attention had been drawn from the 



296 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

cave, he had lowered himself by the rope, and swimming 
the Koissu, had plunged into the forests of the opposite 
hank. The devotion of his Murids had saved the life and 
the cause of the prophet. Fifteen hundred dead lay in 
the ruins of Akhulgo, and six hundred prisoners, mostly 
wounded, were taken by the Russians. 

The taking of Akhulgo was the crisis of Schamyl's fate. 
But an event which seemed utterly to annihilate his party, 
in reality served only to consolidate his power, and to ren- 
der its foundation secure. The fifteen hundred slain in 
Akhulgo were the seeds of so many blood-feuds between 
the Russians and every tribe in the Caucasus — the pledges 
of an unquenchable personal hatred on the part of the 
mountaineers to the Muscovites, for ever. The wanton 
brutality of the soldiers to the inhabitants, in their line of 
march, disgusted even those tribes who would have been 
willing to remain friendly ; and all learned unmistakably 
what they had to expect from Russian rule. On the other 
hand, the skill and courage shown by Schamyl and his 
followers in the defence, and the severe losses which they 
inflicted upon the invaders, appealed to the inmost sym- 
pathies of the gallant Caucasians ; while the escape of the 
Imam, the details of which he carefully kept secret, 
appeared, for the third time, to be due to nothing but the 
miraculous interference of Allah. Schamyl himself, find- 
ing that no courage could resist the " Czar's pistols," as 
his people called the field-pieces, learned to change his 
tactics, and henceforward to confine himself to the guerilla 
warfare for which the country seems made. His wonder- 
ful energy soon revived the spirit of his people, and early 
in 1840, all Tchetclieuia was in revolt again. 



RUSSIANS AND CIRCASSIANS, 1855. 297 

The storming of Akhulgo, is the last real advantage of 
which the Russians have to boast. Schamyl, hencefor- 
ward avoiding fortifications in the European style, set up 
his head-quarters at Dargo. Here he organized a scheme 
of government, which converted the whole of Lesghistan 
and the greater part of Tchetchenia into a vast military 
colony, and gave him the power of concentrating his 
forces upon a given point with the utmost ease. His 
system has been to avoid as much as possible coming into 
contact with the Russians in open ground. If the Rus- 
sians make an expedition against him, he never opposes 
their entrance into the passes — no sign of life is, for the 
first day or two, to be seen in the mountains ; but as the 
gorges narrow and the ground becomes more difficult, 
dropping shots from invisible enemies pick off the Russian 
officers. By degrees the dropping shots increase into a 
hot fire, and clouds of wild Lesghians and Tschetchenians, 
agile and surefooted as goats, hover behind trees and 
stones. 



298 EUEOrE AND THE ALLIES. 



CHAPTER XI. 



SINOPE. 



Town of Sinope — Osman Pacha — The Mussulmans — The Black Sea 
Squadron — Exploit of Captain Druminond — Sebastopol Harbor — Achniet 
Pacha— Citate— The Battle— Turkey, as a Military Power— Christian 
Population — War in Asia — England and France — Declaration of War 
— Embarkation of Troops. 

We have alluded to the affair of Sinope, but not in 
terms sufficiently strong to stigmatize its atrocity. The 
fleet under the command of Osman Pasha was not cruiz- 
ing in the Black Sea with any intention of provoking 
hostilities on the part of the Kussians : its sole mission 
was to keep up communication between Constantinople 
and the army of Anatolia, the Turks, while thus engaged, 
relying upon the good faith of the Czar, who had under- 
taken to act only upon the defensive so long as the 
negotiations with the Western Powers were pending. 
Nor had Osman Pacha any reason for suspecting that so 
flagrant a breach of faith would be committed, although 
three Russian men of war had been observed on the 27th 
November reconnoitring off the post. Fatal, however, 
was this reliance on the honor of Nicholas ; for, on the 
30th November, about mid-day, and under cover of a 
dense fog, a Russian squadron, consisting of three three- 
deckers, three two-deckers, two frigates, and three 
steamers, entered the bay of Sinope, while several frigates 



MASSACKE OF SINOPE, 1853. 299 

and corvettes cruised at some distance, for the purpose of 
cutting off all assistance from Constantinople. 

Sinope is a town of some little importance, about one 
hundred miles from the Bosphorus, and nearly facing 
Sebastopol ; its dockyards and arsenal, covering a con- 
siderable extent of ground, were ill protected by a few 
insignificant batteries. 

Kesistance on the part of the Turks was almost hopeless, 
as their entire squadron mounted altogether only 406 
guns, while the Russian ships carried no less than 760, 
and those mostly of very heavy calibre. As soon as he 
had entered the bay, the Russian admiral brought his 
ships deliberately to an anchor, sending at the same time 
an officer to demand the unconditional surrender of 
Osman Pacha's fleet. He scarcely awaited the delivery 
of this message, but immediately opened fire on the 
enemy, whose force, if duly estimated, was at least three 
times greater than his own. So unequal was the contest, 
that it can only be regarded as a massacre : in three 
hours and a half the Turkish squadron was annihilated. 
The courage displayed by the Mussulmans in this affair 
cannot be too highly lauded. Most of the captains were 
killed, or blown up with their ships : out of 4,575 men 
composing their crews, 4,155 were killed in the engage- 
ment, 120 were taken prisoners, and 300 were wantonly 
slaughtered in the conflagration of the defenceless town, 
■ — a worthy consummation to this disgraceful act of piracy, 
the details of which aroused the universal execration of 
the world. 

The Emperor, on the other hand, was unable to dis- 
semble his delight, and readily accepted this massacre aa 



300 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

a glorious set-off against the rout of his troops at Olte- 
nitza. An officer, despatched with the welcome intelli- 
gence by Prince Menschikoff to the Czar, appeared in the 
august presence covered with mud, and so exhausted with 
fatigue that he actually fell asleep while the Emperor was 
reading the despatches. The Czar roused him with the 
announcement that "his horses were ready to convey 
him to the south," and that, from the rank of captain, he 
had risen to that of lieutenant-colonel. 

The news of the disaster occasioned great consternation at 
Constantinople. The crews of the allied squadron began 
naturally enough to inquire among themselves whether 
they had been summoned to the Bosphorus to be passive 
spectators of deeds such as we have detailed. 

At six o'clock on the morning of the 3d January, 1854, 
the Anglo-Gallic squadron entered the Black Sea. 

The English squadron was composed of nineteen ships, 
carrying 1,030 guns. The French, fifteen ships and 962 
guns. They were accompanied by a few Turkish steamers, 
each carrying about 1000 troops, and a large supply of 
ammunition and provisions for the army in Asia. 

At this time the Russian force in the Black Sea was 
composed of six ships each of 120 guns, eight of 80 guns, 
and eight each of 50 or 60 guns, also three steamers, 
fifteen corvettes, and a few smaller vessels. 

At this conjuncture the representatives of the great 
Western Powers addressed a letter to the Governor of 
Sebastopol, announcing that the Anglo-Gallic fleet had 
been ordered to the Black Sea to protect the shores that 
fringe the Ottoman territory against any act of aggression : 
they, moreover, expressed a diplomatic hope that his 



EXPLOIT OF CAPTAIN DiJUMMOND, 1854. 301 

Excellency would give such instructions to the Russian 
admirals as would prevent a hostile collision. 

This letter was deficient in one main essential, since it 
studiously avoided announcing that the combined fleet 
was engaged in convoying a Turkish squadron, laden 
with munitions of war, having, moreover, undertaken to 
defend it against any attack. 

There is something in this omission which might be cha- 
racterized by a stronger designation than excessive caution. 

One copy of the epistle, however — such as it was — 
signed by General Baraguay d'Hilliers, was intrusted to 
a French officer, commissioned to deliver it to Prince 
MenschikofF in person. That officer embarked on board 
H. M. S. Retribution, whose captain (Drummond), with 
the copy bearing Lord Redcliffe's signature, taking advan- 
tage of a dense fog, and without any pilot, boldly steamed 
into the very harbor of Sebastopol. Two shots were fired 
as a signal to bring to, but they were disregarded ; where- 
upon a Russian officer, in a state of considerable excite- 
ment, hailed the frigate from a boat, emphatically 
announcing that no vessel of war could be permitted to 
enter the harbor, and that consequently the Retribution 
must forthwith retire. This requisition Captain Drum- 
mond refused to comply with until the object of his 
mission had been accomplished. He was then informed 
that the Governor was not in Sebastopol. The commander 
of the Retribution inquired for the deputy-governor, to 
whom he delivered his despatches ; and it is said that 
this unfortunate officer was degraded to the ranks for 
permitting an English man-of-war to make her way with* 
out opposition into a port so jealously guarded. 



309 



EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 



While the parley between the English commander and 
the deputy-governor was going on, the officers of the 
lieiribution, by the aid of cameras and pencils, took a 
series of sketches of the works of Sebastopol, and thus 
made themselves masters of all the information which the 
Russians had any interest in concealing. 

On the 6th January, just as the allied fleets had taken 
possession of the Black Sea in order to retain a " material 
guarantee" equivalent to that of the Wallachian provinces, 
so unwarrantably seized by the Czar, the army of Abdul 
Medjid on the Danube was preparing to prove itself 
worthy of the important alliance he had just concluded. 

His soldiers had shown well enough at Sinope that they 
knew how to die : at Citate they satisfied Europe that 
they knew how to fight. 

Though, for the most part, inexperienced levies, they 
were more than a match for the veterans of the Czar, 
many of whom had for years past been inured to hard 
lighting in the Caucasus, while many more had seen some- 
thing of warfare in the Hungarian campaign. 

The Russians having determined to attack Kalafat, 
where Achmet Pacha had resolved to establish himself in 
force, began to manoeuvre so as to reduce within the nar- 
rowest limits the Ottoman position : they threw up also a 
considerable number of field-works, so as to command 
almost every approach. Achmet Pacha felt that the 
moment had arrived when it was incumbent upon him to 
act with vigor, if he did not wish to break the spirit or 
lower the morale of his men. Till the last moment, 
however, he divulged his plans to no one ; nor did 
he, till the hour had arrived, intimate his intention of 



THE VILLAGE OF CITATE, 1854. 303 

giving battle at Citate, the nearest point to the enemy's 
lines. 

Citate is little more than a village, situate upon a gra- 
dual slope commanding the surrounding plain, which is 
bounded by two ravines. That on the eastern extremity 
is steep, abutting upon a lake, to the rear of which is a 
long level tract, extending to the Danube. The western 
gully is less abrupt, and inclines gradually towards a hill 
behind the village. The main road to Kalafat Lies in a 
north-westerly direction between these ravines. 

On a height above Citate, and to the left of the road, 
the Russians had thrown up a redoubt, which subse- 
quently had the effect of preserving them from absolute 
destruction. 

Achmet Pacha selected for this enterprise three regi- 
ments of cavalry, thirteen battalions of infantry (altogether 
11,000 men), and twenty guns. 

At sunset on the evening of the 5th January, the chosen 
band silently quitted Kalafat, reaching the village of 
Maglovit at eio-ht o'clock. Some few found shelter in the 
deserted houses, but the greater part bivouacked without 
fire and without shelter. The ground was covered with 
half melted snow: the men were consequently compelled 
to keep on foot till daybreak, when the bugle summoned 
them to proceed to the scene of the impending action. 

Two Turkish battalions were posted, with two guns, on 
the road, one in the village of Maglovit, the other in that 
of Orenja, to keep up the communication with Kalafat. 
A reserve of seven battalions was stationed at the foot of 
the hill already alluded to, while the other four battalions, 
with six guns (under the command of Ismail Pacha, who 



304 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

led the attack), were posted somewhat in advance. The 
day dawned fair, the air was clear and calm, and the sky 
cloudless. ISTot a Russian sentry was visible, from the 
Turkish position, along the whole valley of the Danube : 
from the unbroken silence it might have been imagined 
that they had evacuated Citate. Six companies of light 
infantry, headed by Teyfik Bey (the nephew of Omer 
Pacha), were pushed forward en tirailleurs. They were on 
the point rf occupying the hill, when a heavy discharge of 
grape and canister plainly enough revealed the presence of 
the enemy, as well as their intention of disputing the posi- 
tion. A well-directed fire of musketry ensued, but the 
Turkish sharpshooters, supported by four battalions of 
infantry and a field battery, opened a murderous fire on 
the Russians, whose artillery was miserably served in 
comparison with that of their antagonists. They fought, 
however, with desperation ; and as the Turks advanced, 
carrying house after house at the bayonet's point, the 
Russians disputed every inch with all the frenzy of despair. 
Quarter was neither asked nor given. Many of the Rus- 
sian officers, seeing their men give way, actually threw 
themselves on the swords of the Mussulmans. The des- 
perate struggle lasted more than four hours, occasioning a 
heavy loss on both sides. 

At noon every dwelling in the village had been cap- 
tured, and the Russians were retreating in tolerable order 
along the road ; but they there found themselves con- 
fronted by two fresh regiments of Turkish cavalry, which 
had advanced unperceived along the ravine to the right 
of the village. Thus situated, the Russians had no alter- 
native but to take shelter with their guns behind their re- 



THE BATTLE AT CITATE, 1854. 305 

doubt. They thus obtained a partial shelter from the Turk- 
ish cavalry. At this moment Ismail Pacha, who had had 
two horses killed under him, and had been badly wounded, 
yielded the command to Mustapha, and he, with two bat- 
talions that had not yet been engaged, and with four field- 
pieces, hastened to attack the redoubt, in conjunction with 
four additional battalions, each flanked by five guns. In 
half an hour more the destruction of the Kussians would 
have been complete ; but at this moment the attention of 
the combatants was arrested by an occurrence in another 
part of the plain. 

As might have been expected, the intelligence of this 
engagement had already reached the Russians quartered 
in the surrounding villages, and reinforcements to the 
extent of 10,000 men and sixteen guns, might be seen 
rapidly advancing in various directions upon the Turkish 
reserve, which was well prepared to receive them. The 
Kussians were marching in the direction of Kalafat, so as 
to place the Turks between two fires. The Mussulman 
generals, however, though in a critical position, concerted 
measures well, and at the proper moment, after having 
again displayed the superiority of their artillery, led their 
gallant battalions against the enemy, who speedily took 
to flight, strewing the ground with an immense quantity 
of arms, accoutrements, and ammunition. 

The Turks had now been eight hours under arms, besides 
having bivouacked, in the depth of winter, without fire? 
on the muddy ground ; but they were still eager to attack 
the redoubt, where the Russians remained literally penned 
in like sheep. Achmet Pacha, however, sounded a retreat, 
which was executed in perfect order. The Turks left 338 



306 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

killed on this hard fought field, and carried away 700 
wounded ; while the Russian loss could not have been less 
than 1500 killed and 2000 wounded. At nightfall the 
redoubt was abandoned ; and the Russians, after burying 
their dead, completely evacuated Citate, and all the other 
villages which had served them as advanced posts. 

We have been thus particular in the details of this 
action, because it was, in fact, one of the most important 
of the campaign. The Ottoman troops, elated with so 
decisive a victory over a detested foe, were now only 
anxious to be led again to battle. On the 7th, Omer 
Pacha, who had hastened to the spot on hearing of the 
achievement of this division of his army, gratified their 
wishes, and on that and the three following days engage- 
ments took place, each terminating in results favorable to 
the cause of the Sultan. 

Turkey thus at once resumed her position as a military 
power, and gave earnest, that when the ten or twelve 
millions, constituting her Christian population, shall have 
accepted the offer of the Sultan to bear arms like their 
Mahometan fellow-subjects, she will be in a position to 
protect herself against any aggression. Time of course 
must elapse before this takes place ; but enough has been 
done to prove that the protection of England and France 
need not be always indispensable to the existence of the 
Turkish empire. 

It is unnecessary for our present purpose to follow the 
hostile armies on the Danube through all their operations. 
It will be sufficient to observe, that after the various 
engagements in the neighborhood of Kalafat, Omer Pacha 
resumed the plan on which he had previously proceeded 



DECLARATION OF WAR, 1854. 307 

at Giurgevo and Oltenitza, the object of which was to 
constrain the Russians to detach a portion of their army 
in order to cover Bucharest. He had no desire to attempt 
any rash enterprise, but prudently kept watch, so as to 
avail himself of any favorable contingency ; his character 
presenting a happy combination of daring and prudence. 

While the events we have related were proceeding, the 
war was being carried on with vigor on the frontier of 
Asia : numerous conflicts took place, attended with much 
slaughter, but not with any very commensurate results. 
The most important battle was that of Akhaltzik, claimed 
by the Russian General, Prince Andronikoff, as a great 
victory. Like that of Sinope, it was celebrated at Peters- 
burg by a solemn Te Deam y "The most pious Czar," in 
the words of the Government organ, " thanking the Lord 
of lords for the success of the Russian arms in the sacred 
combat for the orthodox faith." (!) 

The allied squadron in the Black Sea, after having 
escorted a Turkish squadron freighted with supplies to 
Batoum, Trebizonde, and Checkvetil, reconnoitred the 
Russian fleet in Sebastopol, and returned to the Bosphorus. 

England and France having announced to the world 
:heir intention of affording to Turkey both moral and 
material support, but their moral aid having failed to 
avert the invasion of the Danubian provinces, the massacre 
of Sinope, or the treachery of Austria, masked as it was 
under the guise of friendship, it became incumbent on the 
two Western Powers to abandon at once all further dis- 
cussion, and to appeal to the stern but inevitable arbitra- 
ment of the sword. 

The Queen's declaration of war appeared in the Gazette 



308 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

of the 28th of March: on the preceding day, at Paris, the 
Minister of State read to the Legislative corps a message 
from the Emperor, announcing " that the last resolution 
of the Cabinet of St. Petersburg had placed Russia in a 
state of war with respect to France — a war, the responsi 
bility of which belonged entirely to the Russian Govern 
ment." 

Great now was the activity displayed at the naval port , 
and arsenals of England and France. From Portsmouth 
and Southampton regiment after regiment were embarked 
— ships were commissioned faster almost than they could 
be got ready for sea — and additional reinforcements were 
despatched in all haste to Sir Charles Napier's magnificent 
Baltic fleet, which sailed from Spithead on the 11th of 
March. 



CHAPTER XII. 

TEEATY OF ALLIANCE. 

The Five Articles of the Treaty — "War on the Danube — General Luders— 
The Pestilence — Decree of the Czar — Governor of Moscow — Loss of the 
Frigate Tiger — Captain Gifford — Black Sea Fleet — Duke of Cambridge- 
Arrival at Varna — Captain Hall — Admiral Plumridge — General Bodisco 
— Silistria — The Siege — Mussa Pacha — Evacuation of the Principalities 
by the Russians. 

On the 12th of March, 1851, the treaty of alliance 
between England, France, and the Porte, was signed by 
the representatives of those powers. 

The treaty consists of five articles. By the first, France 
and England engage to support Turkey by force of arms 
until the conclusion of a peace which shall secure inde- 
pendence of the Ottoman empire, and the integrity of the 
rights of the Sultan. The two protecting Powers under- 
take not to derive from the actual crisis, or from the 
negotiations which may terminate it, any exclusive advan- 
tage. By the second article the Porte, on its side, pledges 
itself not to make peace under any circumstances without 
having previously obtained the consent, and solicited the 
participation of the two Powers, and also to employ all 
its resources to carry on the war with vigor. In the third 
article the two Powers promise to evacuate, immediately 
after the conclusion of the war, and on the demand of the 
Porte, all the points of the empire which their troops 
shall have occupied during the war. By the fourth 
article the treaty remains open for the signature of the 



310 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

other Powers of Europe who may wish to become parties 
to it ; and the fifth and last article guarantees to all the 
subjects of the Porte, without distinction of religion, 
equality in the eye of the law, and admissibility into all 
employments. To this treaty are attached, as integral 
parts of it, several protocols. One relates to the institu- 
tion of mixed tribunals throughout the whole empire; a 
second is relative to an advance of 20,000,000fr. jointly 
by France and England ; and a third relates to the collec- 
tion of the taxes and the suppression of the haratch or 
poll-tax, which, having been considered for a long time 
past by the Turkish Government as only the jmrchase of 
exemption from military service, leads, by its abolition, to 
the entrance of Christians into the army. 

The Russians continued to prosecute the war eagerly on 
the banks of the Danube, but any temporary success was 
more than counterbalanced by subsequent and more bril- 
liant Turkish victories. 

General Luclers, at the head of 50,000 men, succeeded 
in crossing the Danube, and in occupying the Dobrudscha 
in force. A fatal step ! for a frightful pestilence, arising 
from the marshes of this unhealthy district, in a few weeks 
decimated his troops, and the survivors were so debilitated 
by sickness and scanty fare, that they might have been 
driven into the river almost without the power cf 
resistance. 

On the 5th of May the Invalide Russe published the 
following veracious decree of the Emperor of Russia, 
addressed to General Osten-Sacken : — 

" On the day when the inhabitants of Odessa, united in 



DECKEE OF THE CZAK, 1854. 311 

their orthodox temples, were celebrating the death of the 
Son of God, crucified for the redemption of mankind, the 
allies of the enemies of His holy name attempted a crime 
against that city of peace and commerce, against that city 
where all Europe, in her years of dearth, has always found 
open granaries. The fleets of France and England bom- 
barded for twe±ve hours our batteries and the habitations 
of our peaceful citizens, as well as the merchant shipping 
in the harbor. But our brave troops, led by you in person, 
and penetrated by a profound faith in the supreme Pro- 
tector of justice, gloriously repelled the attack of the 
enemy against the soil which, in apostolic times, relieved 
the saintly precursor of the Christian religion in our holy 
country. 

The heroic firmness and devotion of our troops, inspired 
by your example, have been crowned with complete suc- 
cess, the city has been saved from destruction, and the 
enemies' fleets have disappeared. As a worthy recom- 
pense for so brilliant an action, we send you the order of 
St. Andrew." Nicholas. 

St. Petersburg, April 21 {May 3). 

The governor of Moscow had caused a Te Deum to be 
sung in honor of the victory (?) gained by the Russians at 
Odessa ; the fact being, that in consequence of the atro- 
cious conduct of the military authorities of Odessa, in 
firing upon an English flag of truce, a division of English 
and French steam frigates appeared before Odessa. On 
their arrival the greatest terror pervaded the city. The 
wealthy hired all the post-horses to remove to the interior, 
and the inhabitants sought refuge in the neighboring 



312 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

country ; but the English and French steamers having 
withdrawn, after taking a survey of the roads, the alarm 
subsided, the population returned, and the shops were re- 
opened. On the 21st of April, however, the appearance 
of thirty-three sail on the horizon created still greater 
terror, for it was evident that they were coming to avenge 
the insult above alluded to, and which, even at Odessa, 
was the subject of universal reprobation. The next day 
nothing could exceed the consternation, everybody being 
in constant apprehension of a catastrophe. The fears 
redoubled when, after a bombardment of eight hours, the 
gunpowder magazine blew up, and the military stores were 
seen on lire. The sight of wounded soldiers brought in 
from the batteries, and the brutality of the governor and 
his forces towards the inhabitants, were not calculated to 
allay their terror. This affair produced great discourage- 
ment among the troops, and an excellent effect on the popu- 
lation, who perceived that the Russian army was unable to 
protect them ; and that, if the city were not reduced to ashes, 
it was solely owing to the generosity of the allied Powers. 
The satisfaction derived from the severe punishment 
thus administered to the Russians was more than coun- 
terbalanced by the total loss of an English frigate (the 
Tiger) of 1275 tons, and carrying sixteen guns. This sad 
disaster occurred near Odessa, on the 12th of May, in con- 
sequence of her taking the ground while in chase of two 
small Russian vessels. The wreck was attended with the 
death of her gallant captain (Giffard) and a midshipman, 
and the loss of her crew of 226 men ; for, being attacked 
while lying in an utterly defenceless condition, they had 
no choice but to surrender. 



BOMBARDMENT OF KEDOUT-KALEII, 1854. 313 

A division of the Black Sea fleet, consisting of seventeen 
vessels, continued to watch the harbor of Sebastopol ; while 
the British cruisers speedily captured every vessel that 
carried the Russian flag. Another division, composed of 
nine steamers, was despatched to the Circassian coast, to 
aid in the destruction of the Russian forts, and to open a 
communication with Schamyl. Partly in consequence of 
this movement, the Russians were compelled to evacuate 
all their positions, from Batoum to Anapa, a distance of 
200 leagues, and burning most of their forts, they retired 
into Kutais. The Circassians thereupon made a descent, 
and surprised and captured 15,000 prisoners in Sukkum- 
Kaleh. 

On the 18th May, the Charlemagne, Agamemnon, Mo- 
gador, Highflyer, and Sampson, bombarded Redout-Kaleh, 
sparing only the Custom-house and Quarantine establish- 
ment. They then returned to Chouroucksu, and landed 
800 troops at Redout-Kaleh. These, supported by 30.0 
English, and French, pursued the Russians, in number 
about 2000, who fell back on Kutais, which was speedily 
captured. 

On the 1st June, Admirals Dundas and Hamelin de- 
clared all the mouths of the Danube to be strictly blockad- 
ed, in order to cut off all supplies from the Russian army 
in the Dobrudscha. Shortly after, the English steam-fri- 
gates bombarded the forts at Sulina, and captured the 
commander, with all his men and guns. A sad loss was 
experienced by the British fleet, on this occasion, in the 
death of Captain Hyde Parker, of the Firebrand, who, 
while proceeding on an exploring expedition up the Da- 
nube, was fired upon from a stockade fort, thought to 



314 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

have been abandoned. The gallant officer, landing with 
his men to storm it, fell — shot through the heart by a 
rifle-ball. 

While prize after prize continued to arrive, in rapid suc- 
cession, at Portsmouth and in the Thames, English troops, 
of all denominations, were " mustering in hot haste " at 
Gallipoli, Scutari, and Varna; Lord Raglan, as com- 
mander-in-chief, occupying in the first instance, the pa- 
lace so recently tenanted by the Russian Ambassador at 
Constantinople. 

On the 14th June, the Duke of Cambridge with his staff, 
the brigade of Guards, and the Highland brigade (42nd, 
Y9th, and 93d regiments), arrived at Yarna, where a 
numerous Anglo-French army was already encamped. It 
is probable that the unexpected and retrograde movement 
of the Russians upon the Pruth — intelligence of which 
reached the allied generals about this time — occasioned a 
deviation from the plan of operations originally contem- 
plated, as it obviated the necessity of any active co-opera- 
tion with Omer Pacha's army on the Danube. An expe- 
dition upon a gigantic scale was, however, planned, its 
destination being the Crimea and Sebastopol. It had been 
well, for many reasons, that so long a period had not been 
passed in inactivity at Yarna, for sickness was making sad 
havoc among the officers and in the ranks ; and the regi- 
ments which left England only a few weeks before in full 
health and vigor, now presented a pitiable contrast to 
their former condition. The French had suffered still 
more ; for, besides the loss of seven thousand men, during 
their brief but ill-advised encampment in the Dobrudscha, 
they were burying, for many weeks, more than 100 daily ; 



THE AEKOGANT AND HECLA, 1854. 315 

and the effect of this visitation was telling fearfully upon 
the spirits of the survivors. 

Nor had the Baltic fleet, though in a much more tem- 
perate climate, escaped the scourge of cholera. "We may 
mention, as a curious fact, that the sailing vessels experi- 
enced a happy immunity from the pestilence. 

The result of the Baltic operations may be given in a 
few words. The fleet of the Czar, outnumbered by that of 
the allied powers, was detained in captivity at Helsingfors 
and Kronstadt, declining alike every offer of battle, and 
unable to stay the devastation that was effected along the 
Finnish shore of the Bothnian Gulf. Scarcely a Russian 
merchant vessel escaped the vigilance of the cruisers ; and 
the whole line of her coasts, up to the shoals of Kettle 
Island, were shown to be at the mercy of the allies. In a 
national point of view, there was not much to boast of in 
the achievements of so sti^endous a fleet. But there 
were individual acts of valor as bright as any that adorn 
the pages of naval history. Prominent among these was 
the exploit of the Arrogant and Ilecla. 

While the Arrogant was reconnoitring Hango Bay, she 
was joined by the Ilecla, six guns, commanded by Captain 
Hall, so well known for his services in the Chinese war. 
Early on the morning of the 20th May, they came within 
range of a battery, against which the Ilecla opened fire, 
which was quickly returned. The Arrogant aided the 
Ilecla, and dispersed the defenders of the fort, blowing 
gun-carriages to fragments and dismounting the guns. 
The town of Eckness was descried, and the ships having 
been joined by the Dauntless, the Arrogant ran up along- 
side of a bark, took her in tow, and steamed away with 



316 ETTEOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

her. The ships were studded with Minie balls. The 
Arrogant had one man shot through the heart, and another, 
badly wounded, lived only till next day. The Hecla lost 
one man. Captain Hall landed with his marines, and 
hoisted an iron gun into his boat, which he placed on 
board the Hecla. They joined the fleet on the 21st. The 
commander-in-chief telegraphed, " Well done, Arrogant 
and Hecla? 

But these successes were followed by a reverse sufficient 
to cast a shade upon their career of triumph. 

Admiral Plumridge's flying squadron of paddle steam- 
ers, consisting of the Leopard, the Vulture, the Odin, and 
the Yalorous, had been up the Gulf of Finland, and had 
destroyed forty-five vessels, of from 1200 tons to 100 tons, 
and £300,000 worth of tar, timber, saltpetre, and tallow. 
On the 7th of June, the Vulture and Odin were sent to 
Gamla-Karleby (64.50 north), where they had to anchor 
five miles from the town. Their boats were sent in under 
the command of the first lieutenant (Mr. Charles Wise) of 
the Vultivre, who was surprised by a large force of regu- 
lar troops, armed with rifles and field guns, wholly 
concealed and protected by strong wood stores, so that 
not a man was seen. The consequence was, a murderous 
onslaught. The loss from the Vulture was one man killed 
and one wounded, and a paddle-box boat, with one master 
(Mr. Murphy), twenty-seven men, and the boat's Si-poun- 
der carronade, " missing, captured, or sunk." The loss from 
the Odin was three officers killed and three men. The first- 
lieutenant, one midshipman, and fifteen men were wounded. 

But the most important operation in this quarter was 
the attack, on the 15th August, upon Bomarsund. 



CAPTURE OF BOMARSUND, 1854. 317 

The disembarkation of the troops took place on the 
morning of the 8th August. The landing-place chosen 
was a bay about three miles broad, to the south-west of 
the forts, and at a distance of 2500 yards from the western 
fort (called Fort Tzee). A Russian earthwork, canying 
six guns, had been placed on the eastern promontory of 
this bay ; but this battery was dismounted by the tire of 
the Amjpliion and JPhlegethon. Meantime, 11,000 men 
were landed in the space of three hours and a half. The 
Rnssians made no attempt to oppose the operation. The 
British and French marines, 600 of each flag, were con- 
veyed to the north of the forts, and landed behind them. 
The next four days were employed in preparing for the 
attack.. The positions of the batteries were selected, sand- 
bags and gabions were prepared, and the sailors brought 
up with great labor some long 32-pounders, which were 
placed 800 yards from the round fort. On the 13th, the 
fire of the French battery opened on Fort Tzee, and the 
bombardment was sustained in the most brilliant manner 
for twenty-six hours. A remarkable fact is, that this 
French battery consisted of only four 16-pounders and 
four mortars — a force quite inadequate to breach a granite 
tower : three of the enemy's guns were dismounted through 
the embrasures, and the fire of the French rifles on these 
apertures was so severe, that the Russians had difficulty 
in loading their guns, and suffered most severely. Eventu- 
ally this part of the work was taken by the French chas- 
seurs, on the morning of the 14th, by a coup cle main 

In the fort taken by the French, the P 11 
sisted of fifty killed, twenty wonndt 
prisoners; on the side of the French, j 



318 EUK0PE AJSfD THE ALLIES. 

and two chasseurs were killed ; 115 Russians were made 
prisoners. Hon. George Wrottesley, Lieutenant of the 
Royal Engineers, was killed. Captain Ramsay, of Her 
Majesty's ship ITogue, was slightly wounded. One of the 
English marines was also killed. Two screw guard-ships, 
the Ilogue and the Edinburgh, and steamers, bombarded 
the forts for five hours, throwing their shot with great 
effect from a distance of 3000 yards. 

The large fortress • did not surrender till the 16th. 
General Bodisco and the Yice-Governor Turuhielm, with 
the whole garrison of 2000 men (the 'materiel and provi- 
sions), became prisoners of war, and were sent on board 
the fleet. 

The two forts taken were blown up. The main fortress 
was much injured. The loss of the allies is put at 120 
killed and wounded. 

The Russian officials are reported to have taken to 
flight, pursued by the peasantry. A proclamation was 
read in eleven parishes, by order of General Baraguay 
d'Hilliers, freeing the Aland Islands from Russian domi- 
nion, and placing them under the protection of the West- 
ern Powers. 

Our present sketch would be imperfect, did we refrain 
from alluding to the memorable defence of Silistria, a most 
brilliant incident of the war. 

The town of Silistria is situate on low ground, and is 
surrounded by a wall, and crowned with forts. In 1828 
there was a height which commanded the town, and. which 
rendered its capture much less difficult. The Turks, how- 
ever, have taken the precaution to construct on it a con- 
siderable fortress. As the Russians did not carry on the 



SIEGE OF SILISTRJA, 1854. 319 

siege in a regular manner, they required from 60,000 to 
70,000 men to invest it. The attack commenced on the 
11th of May. As they held a few small islands in the 
Danube, and, besides, as the side of the town which looks 
to the river is the weakest, they succeeded in establishing 
a bridge, by which they were enabled to throw on the 
right bank of the river 24,000 men. All their efforts 
were directed towards the fort Arab-tabia, which they 
unsuccessfully bombarded for nineteen days. Mussa 
Pacha, commander-in-chief, made a sortie, which com- 
pletely succeeded, and in which the Russians had a great 
number of men killed and wounded. The assault was 
attempted three times, but the Russians were always 
repulsed with loss. The amount of the killed is not accu- 
rately known. 

During the attack made on Siligtria, on the 29th, the 
Russians had 180 men killed and 380 wounded. Both 
parties displayed indescribable animosity. Lieutenant- 
General Sylvan fell at the head of his troops. Colonel 
Fostanda and Count Orloff, the son of the Adjutant-Gene- 
ral of the Emperor, were wounded. The latter was shot 
through the eye, and subsequently died. 

The Russian General of Infantry, Soltikoff, also died of 
his wounds ; and his aide-de-camp, who was wounded by 
his side, underwent the amputation of his right arm. 

On the evening of the 29th May, at six o'clock, a Rus- 
sian division made a still more vigorous assault upon the 
entrenchments. 

Three storming parties of 10,000 men each were formed, 
with a battalion of engineer-sappers, with fascines and 
scaling ladders, at their head. Before the men set to work 



320 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

they were addressed by Prince Paskiewitch, who urged 
them to exertion, " as, if they did not succeed in taking 
the fortress, he should be obliged to keep back their 
rations " After this encouragement, two corps proceeded 
towards the forts of Arab-tabia and Yelanli : the third 
corps was to act as a reserve. After a terrific cannonade 
the storming parties advanced, but were received by the 
Turks with such a well-directed fire, that for a time they 
made but little progress. The Eussians, however, fought 
bravely, and having managed to scale the breastwork of 
one of the batteries, a regular hand-to-hand fight took 
place. At last the Turks were victorious, and the unfor- 
tunate besiegers were knocked into the ditch with the butt- 
ends of the Turkish muskets. The Eussians had evidently 
lost courage, and, when they returned to the attack, it was 
only because they were forced to do so by their officers. 
When there was literally no more fight in the men, a 
retreat was sounded, and the Eussians carried off as many 
of their dead and wounded as they could. The Turks, 
after their enemies had retired, picked up 1500 dead 
bodies, a great number of guns, swords, drums, musical 
instruments, and the colors of a battalion. Hussein 
Bey, the commander of the two forts, displayed the most 
daring courage, as did a Prussian and two English 
officers. 

Three mines were sprung before Silistria, without doing 
any damage to the walls. The Eussian storming columns 
were prepared to mount the expected breach, but were 
attacked on three sides by the Turks. A fearful slaughtei 
took place, and the Eussians fled in terrible disorder. 
Three Eussian Generals, one of whom was General Schil- 



SIEGE OF SILISTRIA, 1854. 321 

ders, were severely wounded, and all the Russian siege 
works totally destroyed. 

The continued bombardment, besides demolishing every 
house in Silistria, had reduced the fort of Arab-tabia to 
such a mere heap of ruins, that it could not have h,eld out 
for four-and-twenty hours longer. Yet so discomfited 
were the enemy by their last repulse, that on the following 
day they raised the siege and beat a precipitate retreat. 
Mussa Pacha, the gallant defender, was unfortunately 
killed by the fragment of a shell, almost the last that was 
fired against the devoted town. 

This reverse at Silistria, coupled with the adverse issue 
of negotiations with Yienna, led to the evacuation of the 
Principalities by the Russian forces, who shortly after 
hastily abandoned Bucharest, and retreated, exhausted, 
dispirited, and demoralized, upon the line of the Pruth, 
retaining, however, the strongholds of Matchin, Isaktchi, 
and Tultcha. 







MAP OF THE SEAT OF AVAR IN THE CRIMEA. 



CRIMEAN EXPEDITION. 

The Crimea — The Fleet — Appearance in the Bay of Baltjik — Sail from 
Varna — Land at Eupatoria — March Inland — Battle of the Alma — Lord 
Raglan — Appearance of the Troops — Distance from Sebastopol — The 
Morning of Battle — Advance to the River Alma — Russian Position — The 
Zouaves — Storming the Heights — March to Sebastopol — Death of 
Marshal St. Arnaud — General Canrobert. 

Until the last twelvemonth opened a new page in history, 
it could not have been anticipated that the battle-field of 
Europe would be a little arid peninsula in the remotest 
corner of the Black Sea, and that the armies of Britain, 
France, Turkey and Russia would be concentrated in 
direct strife around a fortress, whose very name was 
hardly known in this country before the present war 
broke out. 

Connected with the barren steppes of the mainland of 
Southern Russia only by the narrow strip of fiat and 
sandy land, not five miles across, which constitutes the 
Isthmus of Perekop, the Crimea stretches out in a nearly 
northerly direction, in the form of a diamond -shaped 
peninsula, about one-third the size of Ireland. At its 
western point is Cape Tarkham ; at its eastern, Kirtch 
and KafTa, and in the south, the bay, town, and fortress 
of Sebastopol. 

At least one-third of the Crimea consists of vast water- 
less plains of sandy soil, rising only a few feet above the 



324 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

level of the sea, and in many places impregnated with 
salt ; but all along the south-eastern side of the peninsula, 
from Sebastopol to Kertch and Kaffa, there extends a 
eiiain of limestone mountains. Beginning at Balaklava, 
nine miles east of Sebastopol, precipices fringe all this 
north-eastern coast ; but at foot of these limestone preci- 
pices extends a narrow strip of ground, seldom half a 
league in width, intervening between the hills and the 
shore. It is in this picturesque and delightful region that 
the Allied army established its base of operations. A 
luxuriant vegetation descends to the water's edge. Ches- 
nut trees, mulberries, almonds, laurels, olives, and cypresses 
grow along its whole extent. Is umbers of rivulets of the 
clearest water pour down from the cliffs, which effec- 
tually keep off cold and stormy winds. Thickly studded 
with villages, and adorned with the villas and palaces 
of the richest Russian nobles, this tract offers a most 
striking contrast to the remainder of the peninsula, or 
indeed to any part of Russia. 

The possession of the Crimea, and the construction of a 
maritime fortress of the first order in the magnificent 
harbour of Akhtiar (for such was the former name of 
Sebastopol) were prominent parts of that vast scheme of 
policy, by which the genius of the Czar Peter, and his 
successors, transformed Muscovy into the Russian Empire. 

The ever-memorable expedition of the Allies, designed 
to wrench this fortress and fleet from the possession of the 
Czar, set sail from Yarna in the first week of September, 
1854. IMo naval expedition ever before ecmalled it. 

In the Bay of Baltjik, where the expedition first rendez- 
voused, the sea was literally covered for a space of eight 



TOE LANDING AT ETJPATORIA, 1854. 325 

miles long with splendid shipping. .Thirty-seven sail of 
the line — ten English, sixteen French, and eleven Turkish, 
about a hundred frigates and lesser vessels of war, and 
nearly two hundred of the finest steam and sailing trans- 
ports in the world, lay at anchor, in one immense semi- 
circle, nine or ten deep. The great line of battle-ships, 
with lights gleaming from every port, looked like illu- 
minated towns afloat ; while the other vessels, with 
position-lights hoisted at the main and fore, shed a light 
upon the sea, twinkling away until lost in the distance. 
Each division of the army carried lights, corresponding to 
the number of their division, and at night, when every 
ship was lighted up, the scene was of the most extraordi- 
nary and interesting description. Constantinople, during 
the feast of Bairam, or the Feast of Lamps, described in 
Moore's poems, would have been a worthy illustration. 

On the 4th September, 1854, six hundred vessels sailed 
from Varna, bearing the combined army of 60,000 in the 
direction of Sebastopol : at the same time intelligence was 
received by the commanders of a signal victory obtained 
by Schamyl at Tiflis, over the Russians under Prince 
Bebutoff. They lost on this occasion many men and 
horses, seven guns, 3000 tents, all their ammunition, bag- 
gage, provisions, and retreated in some disorder from 
Kutais and Kars to Tiflis. 

On the 14th September, 58,000 men were landed at 
Eupatoria, about forty-five miles N.W. of Sebastopol. 
They subsequently advanced some distance inland without 
meeting with any opposition. 

The place of debarkation had many advantages. It is 
a small town, containing only 4,000 inhabitants, weakly 



32 G EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

defended by a garrison of about 12,000 men, and in nc 
condition to resist an invasion such as this. The com- 
manders had intended, in the first place, to have thrown 
up entrenchments sufficiently strong to secure the place ; 
but having experienced no resistance, the troops marched 
at once towards their destination. In this march they 
proceeded for about eleven miles, along a slip of land, 
having on the left the salt lake Sasik, and the sea on their 
right. 

The country traversed is fertile, and well supplied with 
water by three rivers, the Alma, the Katcha, and the Bal- 
bek. On the left, or southern bank of the latter stream, 
the first obstacles encountered were the outworks recently 
thrown up by the Russians, and an old star fort. Having 
surmounted these, the Allies found themselves in possession 
of the high ground commanding the rear of the defences 
on the northern shore of the inlet, and they were scarcely 
adapted to resist a strong attack. 

As the Black Sea expedition was departing from Tama 
for the Crimea, the Baltic fleet, or the greater part of it, 
received orders to " bear up " for England. 



THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 



On the night of the 18th September, 1854, orders were 
given by Lord Raglan that the troops should strike tents 
at daybreak. An advance had been determined upon, 
and it was understood that the Russian light cavalry had 



BATTLE OF THE ALMA, 1854. 327 

been sweeping the country of all supplies up to a short 
distance of the outlying pickets. 

At three o'clock next morning, the camp was roused by 
the reveille, and all the 30,000 sleepers woke into active 
life. Of Turkish infantry, 7,000, under Suleiman Pacha 
moved along by the sea side ; next came the divisions of 
Generals Bosquet, Canrobert, Forey, and Prince Napo- 
leon. The order of march of the English army was about 
four miles to the right of their left wing, and as many 
behind them. The right of the Allied forces was covered 
by the fleet, which moved along with it in magnificent 
order, darkening the air with innumerable columns of 
smoke, ready to shell the enemy should they attack the 
right, and commanding the land for nearly two miles from 
the shore. 

The troops presented a splendid appearance. The 
effect of these grand masses of soldiery descending the 
ridges of the hills, rank after rank, with the sun playing 
over forests of glittering steel, can never be forgotten by 
those who witnessed it. Onward the torrent of war 
swept, wave after wave, huge stately billows of armed 
men ; while the rumbling of the artillery, and tramp of 
cavalry, accompanied their progress. A halt took place 
about three o'clock, at a muddy stream, of which the men 
drank with avidity. At this stage they passed the Impe- 
rial post-house, twenty miles from Sebastopol. 

Orders were given to halt and bivouac for the night, 
which was cold and damp, but the men were in excellent 
spirits, looking forward to the probability of an engage- 
ment with the enemy with perfect confidence as to the 
result. 



328 EUBOPE A3TD THE AELIES. 

THE MORNING OF BATTLE. 

On the morning of the 20th, ere daybreak, the whole 
force was under arms. They were marshalled silently ; 
no bugles or drums broke the stillness ; but the hum of 
thousands of voices rose loudly from the ranks, and the 
watchfires lighted up the lines of the camp as though it 
were a great town. When dawn broke it was discovered 
that the Russians had retired from the heights. It was 
known that" the Russians had been busy fortifying the 
heights over the valley through which runs the little 
river Alma, and that they had resolved to try their 
strength with the allied army in a position giving them 
vast advantages of ground, which they had used every 
means in their power to improve to the utmost. The ad- 
vance of the armies this great day was a sight which must 
ever stand out like the landmark of the spectator's life. 
Early in the morning, the troops were ordered to get in 
readiness, and at half-past six o'clock they were in mo- 
tion. It was a lovely day ; the heat of the sun was 
tempered by a sea breeze. The fleet was visible at a 
distance of four miles, covering the ocean as it was seen 
between the hills, and steamers could be seen as close to 
the shore as possible. The Generals, St. Arnaud, Bosquet, 
and Forey, attended by their staff, rode along the lines, 
with Lord Raglan and his Generals at second halt, and 
were received with tremendous cheering. 

The order in which the army advanced was in columns 
of brigades in deploying distance ; the left protected by 
a line of skirmishers of cavalry and of horse artillery. 
The advantage of the formation was, that the army, in 



BATTLE OF THE ALMA, 1854. 329 

case of a strong attack from cavalry and infantry on the 
left or rear, could assume the form of a hollow square, 
with the baggage in the centre. The great object was to 
gain the right of the position, so that the attacking parties 
could be sheltered by the vertical fire of the fleets. As 
soon as the position of the allies could be accurately ascer 
tained, the whole line, extending itself across the cham- 
paign country for some five or six miles, advanced. At 
the distance of two miles the English army halted to 
obtain a little time to gather up the rear ; and then the 
troops steadily advanced in grand lines, like the waves of 
the ocean. 

The French occupied the high road, nearest the beach, 
with the Turks ; and the English marched to the left. At 
about one o'clock in the afternoon, the Light Division of 
the French army came in sight of the village of Almata- 
mak, and the British Light Division descried that of 
Burliuk, both situated on the right bank of the rivei 
Alma. 

At the place where the bulk of the British arm) 
crossed, the banks of the Alma are generally at the righ' 
side, and vary from two and three to six and eight feet in 
depth to the water ; where the French attacked, the 
banks are generally formed by the unvaried curve of the 
river on the left hand side. A village is approached from 
the north by a road winding through a plain nearly level 
till it comes near to the village, where the ground dips, 
so that at the distance of three hundred yards a man on 
horseback can hardly see the tops of the nearer and more 
elevated houses, and can only ascertain the position of the 
stream by the willows and verdure along its banks. At 



330 EUEOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

the left or south side of the Alma the ground assumes a 
very different character — smooth where the bank is deep, 
and greatly elevated where the shelve of the bank occurs, 
it recedes for a few yards at a moderate height above the 
stream, pierced here and there by the course of the win- 
ter's torrents, so as to form small ravines, commanded, 
however, by the heights above. It was on these upper 
heights, and to the sea, that the Russian army, forty -five 
thousand strong, besides six or eight thousand cavalry, 
and. at least a hundred pieces of artillery, were posted. A 
remarkable ridge of mountain, varying in height from 
500 to 700 feet, runs along the course of the Alma on the 
left or south side with the course of the stream, and as- 
suming the form of cliffs when close to the sea. At the 
top of the ridges, between the gullies, the Russians had 
erected earthwork batteries, mounted with 321b. and 241b. 
brass guns, supported by numerous field pieces and 
howitzers. These guns enfiladed the tops of the ravines 
parallel to them, or swept them to the base, while the 
whole of the sides up which an enemy, unable to stand 
the direct fire of the batteries, would be forced to ascend, 
were filled with masses of skirmishers, armed with an 
excellent two-groove rifle, throwing a large solid conical 
ball with force at 700 and 800 yards, as the French learnt 
to their cost. The principal battery consisted of an earth- 
work of the form of the two sides of a triangle, with the 
apex pointed towards the bridge, and the sides covering 
both sides of the stream, corresponding with the bend of 
the river below it, at the distance of 1000 yards ; while, 
with a fair elevation, the 32-pounders threw, very often, 
beyond the houses of the village to the distance of 140O 



BATTLE OF THE ALMA, 185-4. 331 

and 1500 yards. This was constructed on the brow of a 
hill about 600 feet above the river, but the hill rose 
behind it for another 50 feet before it dipped away to- 
wards the road. The ascent of this hill was enfiladed by 
the fire of three batteries of earthwork on the right, and 
by another on the left, and these batteries were equally 
capable of covering the village, the stream, and the slopes 
which led up the hill to their position. In the first bat- 
tery were thirteen 32-pounder brass guns of exquisite 
workmanship, which only told too well. In the other 
batteries were some twenty-five guns in all. 

The force of the British was about 26,000, that of the 
French about 23,000. 

It had not escaped the observation of the Allied Com- 
manders that the Russian General had relied so confi- 
dently on the natural strength of his position towards the 
sea where the cliff rose steep and high above the gardens 
of an adjacent village, that he had neglected to defend 
this part of his works by masses of troops or by heavy 
guns. These military defences were, on the contrary, 
accumulated on his right and centre. The plan of the 
battle was therefore formed so as to enable the French, 
and a Turkish division, in the first instance, to turn the 
Russian left, and gain the plateau ; and, as soon as this 
operation was accomplished, so as to occupy a portion of 
the Russian army, the British troops and the French 
Third Division were to attack the key of the position on 
the right of the enemy, while the French completed his 
defeat on the upper ground. 

General Bosquet's division crossed the river Alma near 
the mouth about 11 30 ; the Turkish battalions crossing at 



332 



EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 



the same time close to the bar, and within musket-range 
of the beach. This movement was unopposed ; and, 




ZOUAVE. 



although a crowd of French skirmishers and light-in- 
fantry crossed the gardens and brushwood below the hill. 



UATTLE OF THE ALMA, 1864. 333 

which might easily have been defended, not a shot was 
fired on them, and not a gun seemed to bear on the line of 
march they followed. It was afterwards ascertained from 
the Russian prisoners, that Prince Menschikoff had left 
this line unguarded, because he regarded it as absolutely 
impassable even for goats. He did not know the Zouaves. 
With inconceivable rapidity and agility they swarmed up 
the cliff, and it was not till they formed on the height, and 
deployed from behind a mound there, that the Russian 
batteries opened upon them. The fire was returned with 
great spirit, and a smart action ensued, during which 
General Bosquet's division was engaged for some time 
almost alone, until General Canrobert came to his sup- 
port. The Turkish division, which presented a very 
martial appearance, and was eager to fight, formed part 
of the army under the command of Marshal St. Arnaud ; 
and some regret was felt by these brave troops that they 
had no active part assigned to them in the struggle. 

While the French troops were scaling the heights, the 
French steamers ran in as close as they could to the bluff 
of the shore at the south side of the Alma, and com- 
menced shelling the Russians in splendid style ; the shells 
bursting over the enemy's squares and batteries, and 
finally driving them from their position on the right, 
within 3000 yards of the sea. The Russians answered 
the ships from the heights, but without effect. 

At 1 50 our line of skirmishers got within range of the 
battery on the hill, and immediately the Russians opened 
fire at 1200 yards, with effect, the shot ploughing through 
open lines of the Riflemen, and falling into the advanc- 
ing columns behind. Shortly ere this time, dense 



334 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

volumes of smoke rose from the river, and drifted along 
to the eastward, interfering with the view of the enemy 
on the left. The Russians had set the village on fire. It 
was a fair exercise of military skill — was well executed — ■ 
took place at the right time, and succeeded in occasioning 
a good deal of annoyance. It is said the Russians had 
taken the range of all the principal points in their front, 
and placed twigs and sticks to mark them. In this they 
were assisted by the post sign-boards on the road. The 
Russians opened a furious fire on the whole English line. 
The round shot whizzed in every direction, dashing up 
the dirt and sand into the faces of the staff of Lord Rag- 
lan. Still he waited patiently for the development of the 
French attack. At length, an Aide-cle-Oamp came to 
him and reported the French had crossed the Alma, but 
they had not established themselves sufficiently to justify 
an attack. The infantry were, therefore, ordered to lie 
down, and the army for a short time was quite passive, 
only that the artillery poured forth an unceasing fire of 
shell, rockets, and round shot, which ploughed through 
the Russians, and caused them great loss. They did not 
waver, however, and replied to the artillery manfully, 
their shot falling among the men as they lay, and carry- 
ing off legs and arms at every round. 



CROSSING THE ALMA. 



Lord Raglan at last became weary of this inactivity, 
and gave orders for the whole line to advance, dp rose 



BATTLE OF THE ALMA, 1854. 335 

these serried masses, and — passing through a fe'arful 
shower of round, case-shot and shell — they dashed into 
the Alma and " floundered" through its waters, which 
were literally torn into foam by the deadly hail. At 
the other side of the river were a number of vineyards, 
occupied by Russian riflemen. Three of the staff were 
here shot down.; but, led by Lord Raglan in person, they 
advanced, cheering on the men. And now came the 
turning point of the battle, in which Lord Raglan, by his 
sagacity, probably secured the victory at a smaller sacri- 
fice than would have been otherwise the case. He dashed 
over the bridge, followed by his staff. From the road 
over it, under the Russian guns, he saw the state of the 
action. The British line, which he had ordered to advance, 
was struggling through the river and up the heights in 
masses, firm indeed, but mowed down by the murderous 
fire of the batteries ; and by grape, round shot, shell, 
canister, case-shot, and musketry, from some of the guns 
in the central battery, and from an immense and compact 
mass of Russian infantry. 

Then commenced one of the most bloody and deter- 
mined struggles in the annals of war. The 2nd Division, 
led by Sir cle Lacy Evans in the most dashing manner, 
crossed the stream on the right. Brigadier Pennefather 
(who Avas in the thickest of the fight, cheering on his 
men), again and again was checked, but never drew back 
in liis onward progress, which was marked by a fierce 
roll of Minie musketry ; and Brigadier Adams bravely 
charged up the hill, and aided him in the battle. Sir 
George Brown, conspicuous on a grey horse, rode in front 
of his Light Division, urging them with voice and ges- 



336 EUROPE AjSTD the allies. 

ture. Gallant fellows ! they were worthy of such a gallant 
chief. Down went Sir George in a cloud of dust in front 
of the battery. He was soon up, and led them on again ; 
but in the shock produced by the fall of their chief, the 
gillant regiment suffered terribly while paralysed for a 
moment. Meantime, the Guards on the right of the 
Light Division, and the brigade of Highlanders, were 
storming the heights on the left. Suddenly a tornado of 
round and grape rushed through from the terrible bat- 
tery, and a roar of musketry from behind it thinned their 
front ranks by dozens. It was evident that the troops 
were just able to contend against the Russians, favored as 
they were by a great position. At this very time an 
immense mass of Russian infantry were seen moving down 
towards the battery. They halted. It was the crisis of 
the day. Sharp, angular, and solid, they looked as if 
they were cut out of the solid rock. Lord Raglan saw 
the difficulties of the situation. He asked, if it would be 
possible to get a couple of guns to bear on these masses. 
The reply was "Yes;" and an artillery officer brought up 
two guns to fire on the Russian squares. The first shot 
missed, but the next, and the next, and the next, cut 
through the ranks so cleanly, and so keenly, that a clear 
lane could be seen for a moment through the square. 
After a few rounds the columns of the square became 
broken, wavered to and fro, broke, and fled over the brow 
of the hill, leaving behind them six or seven distinct lines 
of dead, lying as close as possible to each other, marking 
txie passage of the fatal messengers. This act relieved 
the infantry of a deadly incubus, and they continued 
their magnificent and fearful progress up the hill. 



THE MARCH TO SEBA5TOPOL, 1354. 337 

" Highlanders," said Sir C. Campbell, ere they came ta 
the charge, "don't pull a trigger till you re within a yard 
of the Russians !" They charged, and well the} 7 obeyed 
their chieftain's wish ; Sir Colin had his horse shot under 
him ; but he Avas up immediately, and at the head of his 
men. But the Guards pressed on abreast, and claimed, 
with the 33rd, the honor of capturing a cannon. The 
Second and Light Division crowned the heights. The 
French turned the guns on the hill against the flying 
masses, which the cavalry in vain tried to cover. A few 
faint struggles from the scattered infantry, a few rounds 
of cannon and musketry, and the enemy fled to the 
South-east, leaving three Generals, three guns, TOO 
prisoners, and 4000 killed and wounded, behind tliem. 

The loss on the part of the British was 2000 killed, 
wounded, and missing ; that of the French, about 1400. 

On the night after the battle the allied army bivouacked 
on the summit of the heights which they had so gloriously 
won ; the French Marshal pitching his tent on the very 
spot occupied by that of Prince Menschikoff the morning 
before. 



THE MARCH TO SEBASTOPOL. 



On the 23d the Allied armies left the Alma and pro- 
ceeded to cross the Katscha ; on the 2ith they crossed the 
Belbec, where it had been intended to effect the landing 
of the siege materiel with a view to an attack on the 



338 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

north side of Sebastopol. It was found, however, that the 
enemy had placed a fortified work so as to prevent the 
vessels and transports from approaching this river ; and 
it was determined to advance at once by a flank march 
round the east of Sebastopol, to cross the valley of the 
Tchernaya, and seize Balaklava as the future basis of 
operations against the south side of the harbor at Sebas- 
topol. 

On leaving the high road from the Belbec to Sebas- 
topol, the army had to traverse a dense wood, in which 
there was but one road, that led in the direction necessary 
to take. The march was toilsome, and the troops suffered 
much from want of water. At length, about mid-day, 
Lord Raglan and his staff, preceding the light division, 
arrived, at the outskirts of the wood, in the neighbourhood 
of a place known as Mackenzie's Farm, and, no doubt to 
the surprise of both parties, found himself on the flank of 
a Russian division retreating from Sebastopol to Bakski- 
serai. The Russians only thought of making good their 
retreat, and before any of the British cavalry and horse 
artillery could be brought up, they had passed by the 
critical spot. A few men fell on the side of the Russians, 
and pome were taken prisoners. A vast quantity of am- 
munition and much valuable baggage, fell into the hands 
of the British. 

After resting for awhile at Mackenzie's Farm, where 
two wells afforded a scanty supply of water to the thirsty 
troops, the march was resumed down a steep and difficult 
defile, leading to the valley of the Tchernaya river, which 
they succeeded in reaching the same night. 

Next morning (the 26th) the army was again on the 



THE MARCH TO SEBASTOPOL, 1854. 339 

march, and a few miles more sufficed to bring them to the 
end of their journey. 

The enemy did not hold Balaklava in any strength. 
After a few shots the little garrison surrendered, and as 
Sir E. Lyon's ship, the Agamemnon, reached the mouth 
of the harbour at the very time that the troops appeared 
on the heights, the British army was once more in full 
communication with the fleet. 

The march of the French army, which followed in the 
track of the British, was still more prolonged and fatiguing. 
They did not reach the Tchernaya river until the 26th, 
having passed the previous night at Mackenzie's Farm. 
It was on this day that the French marshal, at length 
succumbing to his fatal malady, issued his last order of 
the day, in which he took leave formally of his troops, 
and resigned the command into the hands of General 
Canrobert. " Soldiers !" said this memorable and touch- 
ing address, " Providence refuses to your chief the satis- 
faction of continuing to lead you in the glorious path 
which is open before you. Overcome by a cruel disease, 
with which he has vainly struggled, he regards with pro- 
found grief, the imperious duty which is imposed upon 
him by circumstances — that of resigning the command, 
the weight of which a health for ever destroyed will no 
longer permit him to bear. 

" Soldiers ! you will pity me, for the misfortune which falls 
on me is immense, irreparable, and perhaps unexampled." 

Next day (the 27th) the marshal was seen entering 
Balaklava, indulging, like every one around him, in eating 
some of the delicious grapes which abound in the vine- 
yards of this country. 



- 



French t 

— 

I 

■ 

I 

li is in 

- 




GENERAL CAKBOBERT. 



GENERAL CANROBEKT, 1854 341 

General-in-chief, prepared tliem by his perseverance in 
organizing the great operation which we execute, and by 
the brilliant victory of the Alma." 

There is often an epoch in the life of a man when every 
incident in his career is invested with a novel and exten- 
sive interest, when the present reflects a lustre on the past, 
and recollection gives confidence to hope. So is it with 
the commander of the French army in the Crimea. 

Francis Canrobert was born in 1809, in the department 
of Lot, some leagues from the village where Murat first 
saw the light. He entered the school of St. Cyr in the 
month of November, 1826, and obtained the highest 
honors in that establishment, after passing two years in 
laborious study. On the first of October, 1828, he was 
appointed to the sub-lieutenancy of the 47th regiment of 
the line, and was made lieutenant on the 20th of June, 
1832. In 1835 he embarked for Africa, and arrived in 
the province of Oran, where the Emir, Abd-el-Kader, had 
held the French troops for some time in check. Soon 
after his arrival, he accompanied the expedition to Mur- 
cara, when he first distinguished himself. He followed 
with his regiment the movements of the generals Clausel, 
D'Arlanges, and Letang, in the province of Oran. The 
capture of Tlemcen, the expeditions to Chelif and Mina, the 
battles of Sidi, Yacoub, Tafua, and Sikkah, revealed his 
brilliant military qualities, and gained him the rank of 
captain on the 26th April, 1837. Captain Canrobert 
returned to France in 1839, with the decoration of the 
Legion of Honor. In 1840 he was on duty at the camp 
of St. Omer, when he composed, in obedience to the com- 
mands of the Duke of Orleans, several chapters of a 



342 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Manual for the use of the light troops. In the month of 
October he was incorporated into the sixth battalion of 
Chasseurs-a-Pied, and returned to Africa in 1841. In this 
new campaign he signalised himself on all occasions. 

He had been an officer of the Legion of Honor for ten 
years, when Colonel St. Arnaud, who in the year 1845 
succeeded Colonel Cavaignac in the government of Or- 
leansville, made use of his services against Bon Maga. 
He succeeded with two hundred and fifty bayonets in 
holding his own against more than three thousand men, 
who could make no impression on him ; consequent upon 
these transactions followed his appointment to a lieutenant- 
colonelcy on the 26th of October. 

It was in 1848, however, that Colonel Canrobert dis- 
played energies beyond all praise. Cholera was raging 
in the garrison of Aumale, but the events which were 
passing at Zaatcha summoned them before the walls of 
this oasis. "What courage and coolness did it require in 
the commander of the Zouaves to lead his soldiers in this 
manner through all the perils of an adventurous march ; 
soldiers constantly accompanied by the afflicting spectacle 
of misery. He, as it were, multiplied himself. He 
exhorted the sick, devoted himself to them ; threw a rein- 
forcement into the town of Bon Sada, the garrison of 
which was blockaded ; deceived the enemy, who opposed 
his passage, by announcing that he brought pestilence 
with him, and that he should communicate it to his assail- 
ants. On the 26th he led, with wondrous intrepidity, one 
of the attacking columns — but of four officers and sixteen 
soldiers who followed him to the breach, sixteen were 
killed or wounded at his side. In recompense for his con- 



GENERAL CANROBERT, 1854. 343 

duct he was nominated Commander of the Legion of 
Honor on the 11th of December, 1849. 

Having distinguished himself at the battle of Narah, he 
was elevated to the rank of general of brigade on the 13th 
of January, 1852. 

He came then to Paris, and took the command of a 
brigade of infantry, and was attached as aide-de-camp to 
the Prince President of the Republic. 

On the 11th of January, 1853, he was appointed gene- 
ral of division, still preserving his functions as aide-de- 
camp to the Emperor. 

Three months afterwards he was called to the command 
of a division of infantry at the camp of Helfaut ; lastly, 
being placed at the head of the first division of the army 
of the East, he has played one of the most active parts 
since the commencement of the war, both in making pre- 
parations for the difficult operation cf the debarcation, 
and in contributing greatly to the success at Alma, where 
he received a wound. 

It is well known that Marshal St. Arnaud, who had 
learned his value, had absolute confidence in his talents 
and bravery, and it is certain that the young general had 
neglected nothing to make him worthy of this confidence. 
Before his departure he was known to be occupied at the 
military depot in profound studies, having for their object 
the knowledge of the theatre of war, as if he had a pre- 
sentiment of his future destiny. 



344 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. 

Bay of Balaklava — Landing of the Siege Guns — Russian Guns — Sebastopol 

Its Appearance — Military Harbor — Fortifications — Vessels of War — ■ 

The Country around Sebastopol — Allies opening Trenches — Message of 
the Governor to Lord Raglan — Bombardment — Lancaster Guns — Ex- 
plosion in the French Batteries — Russian Powder Magazine Explodes 
— The Allied Fleet — The Cannonade — Riflemen — Battle of Balaklava 
—British and French Position— The Combat— The Turks— The High- 
landers — The Russian Cavalry — Captain Nolan — Lord Cardigan. 

Having swept the enemy from their path by the bloody 
triumph of Alma, the next step of the Allies was to lay 
siege to Sebastopol. 

The bay of Balaklava, which now became the principal 
base of their operations, is a place admirably suited for 
the landing of stores and materiel. As a port it is the 
most perfect of its size in the world. The entrance is 
between perpendicular cliffs, rising eight hundred feet 
high on either hand, and is only wide enough to allow the 
passage of one ship at a time ; but once in you find your- 
self in a land-locked tideless haven, still as a mountain- 
tarn, three quarters of a mile in length, by two hundred- 
and fifty yards wide, and nowhere less than six fathoms 
deep, so that every square foot of its surface is available 
for ships of the greatest burden. 

The bay of Balaklava was instantly adopted as the new 
base of operations of the British army, and never before 
did its waters mirror so many tall ships on their bosom. 



PORT OF BALAKLAVA* 1854. 345 

From fifty to a hundred war-ships and transports were 
constantly at anchor, landing the siege-guns, stores, and 
provisions of all kinds. The only access to Balaklava 
from the land side is at the inner end of the bay, through 
a breach in the surrounding hills, which gradually opens 
out into an extensive valley, about three miles long by 
about two broad ; it was in this valley that the serious 
part of the combat of the 25th October took place. 
Through this valley runs the road to the Tchernaya and 
Mackenzie's Farm, by which the Allies advanced to Ba- 
laklava, and which on the other side of the Tchernaya 
enters deep gorges in the mountains. On the side next 
the sea this valley is bounded by a line of hills stretching 
from Balaklava to Inkerman, and along the summit of 
which runs the road to Sebastopol. Another road in the 
opposite direction conducts to the valley of Baider, the 
most fertile district of the Crimea. 

The port of Balaklava having been found barely large 
enough for the landing of the British stores and guns, the 
French selected as their base of operations the three deep 
bays lying between Cape Chersonesus and Sebastopol 
bay. The country between Balaklava and Sebastopol, 
upon which the Allied army encamped, is a barren hilly 
steppe, destitute of water, and covered with no better 
herbage than thistles. The French took up their position 
next the sea ; the British inland, next the Tchernaya. The 
front of the besieging force extended in a continuous line 
from the mouth of the Tchernaya to the sea at Strelitska 
bay, forming nearly a semicircle around Sebastopol, at a 
distance of about two miles from the enemy's works. 
This position was found to be close enough, as the Eussian 



346 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

guns were found to throw shells to the distance of four 
thousand yards. A most unfortunate delay took place in 
landing and bringing up the siege guns and stores of the 
Allies ; a delay which was improved to the utmost by the 
Russians, who kept large bands of citizens, and even 
women, as Avell as the garrison, at work in relays both 
night and day, in throwing up a vast exterior line 
of earthen redoubts and entrenchments, and in covering 
the front of their stone-works with earth. 

The force disposable for the defence of Sebastopol was 
nearly equal in number to the besieging army ; and as, 
from the nature of its position, the place could only be 
invested upon one side, supplies of all kinds could be 
conveyed into the town, and the Russian generals could 
either man the works with their whole forces, or direct 
incessant attacks against the flank and rear of the 
allies. 

Never did any army ever undertake so vast and peril- 
ous an enterprise as that in which the allied commanders 
found themselves engaged. 

For three weeks after leaving Old Fort, the British 
troops were without tents, but on the 7th October the 
besieging army once more got under canvas. 



POET OF SEBASTOPOL, 1854. 347 



SEBASTOPOL. 

Sebastopol is situated at the southern point of the 
Crimea, which puts out into the Black Sea, and is dis- 
tant from Odessa 192 miles. 
« Varna 295 " 
" Constantinople 343 " 
It is one of the most modern creations of the Czar, and 
stands, like an advanced post, near to Cape Chersonese — its 
site, until 1786, having been occupied by a few straggling 
huts. Catherine II., on her accession, perceived its natu- 
ral advantages as a naval port, the first stone was laid in 
1780, and from that period it has rapidly increased in 
strength and importance. On doubling the Cape, bor- 
dered with a vast chain of rocks and breakers, Sebastopol 
appears about six and a half miles to the east — a remark- 
able picture, on account of its white cliffs, and the arnphi- 
theatrical appearance of the town. 

The port of Sebastopol consists of a bay running in a 
south-easterly direction, about four miles long, and a mile 
wide at the entrance, diminishing to 400 yards at the 
end, where the Tchernaya or Black Elver empties itself. 
On the southern coast of this bay are the commercial, 
military, and careening harbors, the quarantine harbor 
being outside the entrance — all these taking a southerly 
direction, and having deep water. 

The military harbor is the largest, being about a mile 
and a half long by 400 yards wide, and is completely 
land-locked on every side. Here it is that the Black Sea 
fleet is moored in the winter — die largest ships being able 



348 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

to lie with all their stores on board close to the quays. 
The small harbor, which contains the naval arsenal and 
docks, is on the eastern side of the military harbor, near 
the entrance. 

The port is defended to the south by six principal bat- 
teries and fortresses, each mounting from 50 to 190 guns ; 
and the north by four, having from 18 to 120 pieces 
each ; and besides these, there are many smaller bat- 
teries. 

The fortresses are built on the casemate principle, 
three of them having three tiers of guns, and a fourth 
two tiers. Fort St. Nicholas is the largest, and mounts 
about 190 guns. It is built of white limestone ; a fine, 
sound stone, which becomes hard, and is very durable, 
the same material being used for all the other forts. 
Between every two casemates are furnaces for heating 
shot red hot. The calibre of the guns is eight inches, 
capable of throwing shells or 68-pound solid shot. 

Whether all the guns in the fortress are of the same 
size, it is impossible to say ; but the belief is, that most 
of the fortifications of Sebastopol are heavily armed. 

Sebastopol is admirably adapted by nature for a strong, 
position towards the sea, and has been fully taken advan- 
tage of to render it one of the most formidably fortified 
places in that direction which could be imagined. 

In speaking of the means of defence at Sebastopol, we 
have left the Russian fleet out of the question. This, 
however, is not to be treated either with indifference or 
contempt. 

There were in the military harbor of Sebastopol twelve 
line-of-battle ships, eight frigates, and seven corvettes, 



TOWN OF SEBASTOPOL, 1854. 349 

comprising the Black Sea fleet, independent of steam- 
ers. 

The town of Sebastopol is situated on the point of land 
between the commercial and military harbors, which 
rises gradually from the water's edge to an elevation of 
200 feet, and contains 31,500 inhabitants. Including the 
military and marines, the residents numbered 40,000. 

It is more than a mile in length, and its greatest width 
is about three-quarters of a mile — the streets entering the 
open steppe on the south. 

The streets are built in parallel lines from north to south, 
are intersected by others from east and west, and the 
houses, being of limestone, have a substantial appear- 
ance. The public buildings are fine. The library erected 
by the Emperor, for the use of naval and military officers, 
is of Grecian architecture, and is elegantly fitted up inter- 
nally. The books are principally confined to naval and 
military subjects and the sciences connected with them, 
history, and some li^ht reading. 

The club-house is handsome externally, and comfortable 
within ; it contains a large ball-room, which is its most 
striking feature, and billiard-rooms, which appear to be 
the great centre of attraction ; but one looks in vain for 
reading-rooms, filled with newspapers and journals. 

There are many good churches, and a fine landing-place 
of stone from the military harbor, approached on the side 
of the town, beneath an architrave supported by high 
columns. It also boasts an Italian opera-house. 

The eastern side of the town is so steep that the mast- 
heads of the ships cannot be seen until one gets close to 
them. Very beautiful views are obtained from some 



350 EL'BOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

parts of the place, and it is altogether agreeably situated, 
A military band plays every Thursday evening in the 
public gardens, at which time the fashionables assemble 
in great numbers. 

As Sebastopol is held exclusively as a military and 
naval position, commerce does not exist ; the only 
articles imported by sea being those required for mate- 
rial of war, or as provisions for the inhabitants and 
garrison. 

On the eastern side of the military harbor, opposite to 
the town, is a line of buildings consisting of barracks, 
some store-houses, and a large naval hospital. 

The country around Sebastopol sinks gradually down, 
in a succession of ridges from the position occupied by the 
Allied army to the town ; but for nearly a third of a mile, 
immediately in front of the town, the ground is quite flat, 
the ridges there having been long ago levelled by the 
Russians in order to give no cover to an attacking force. 
We have said that there is a circuit of five or six hundred 
yards of level ground immediately around the town, and 
it was beyond this radius that the Russians threw up their 
new works, erecting strong redoubts on several elevated 
positions ; the Allies had to open their trenches at the 
distance of a mile from the body of the place, although 
within one hundred and twenty yards of the Russian bat- 
teries. The French were the first to break ground. At 
nine at night, on the 9th, the trenches were opened by 
one thousand six hundred workmen, divided into relief 
parties, and supported to defend the works. A land 
wind, and an almost entire absence of moonlight, favored 
the operations, and by break of day 1,014 yards in length 



OPENING OF TRENCHES, 1854. 351 

were completed, without interruption from the enemy, of 
sufficient depth to cover the men. 

Next night the British broke ground ; but this time 
the garrison were on the alert, and kept up a very heavy 
but ineffectual fire. 

The British, who occupied much higher ground than 
the French, placed their batteries with great skill. The 
raised mounds or beds of earth, upon which the guns were 
placed, were erected precisely along the crest of the 
various ridges on which the batteries were planted, and, 
when finished, showed only the muzzle of the guns over 
the brow of the ridge, so as to present little to the direct 
fire of the enemy. 

The besiegers' batteries were now drawing near com- 
pletion ; and the governor of Sebastopol had sent a re- 
quest to Lord Raglan, that he would spare the inhabitants 
by not firing upon the civilian part of the city, to which 
he replied, that he would grant a safe-conduct to such of 
the inhabitants as were desirous of leaving, but would 
promise nothing as to his mode of attack, save that the 
buildings marked by the yellow flag should be respected 
as hospitals. 

Every means was adopted to keep up the spirits of the 
garrison, and balls even were given every other night. 



THE BOMBARDMENT. 



On the 17th of October the dreadful work began, and 
no one then present will ever forget that memorable 



352 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

scene. The morning dawned slowly; a thick fog hung 
over the town, and spread far up the heights. Towards 
six o'clock the mist began to disperse, and the rich clear 
October sun every instant made objects more and more 
visible. 

In the Allied lines, all the artillerymen were at their 
pieces, and as the iron muzzles of the guns became visible 
through the fog in the now unmasked embrasures, a scat- 
tering and fast-increasing fire was opened upon them from 
the Russian lines. Soon the Russian works, crowded with 
grey figures, could be seen below, with, in rear, the 
large handsome white houses and dockyards of Sebastopol 
itself. Slowly, like the drawing back of a huge curtain, 
the mist moved off seaward, a cool morning breeze sprang 
up, and the atmosphere became clear and bright. 

Around were the wide-extending lines of the besiegers, 
sloping down from the elevated ridges held by the British 
to the low grounds on the coast occupied by the French. 
Facing them below was the continuous line of Russian 
intrenchments of earthwork, interspersed with redoubts 
and stone towers, and loop-holed walls, with the line-of- 
battle ships showing their heavy broadsides in the har- 
bor ; and beyond all, the open sea, bearing on its bosom, 
like a dark belt, the immense armada of the Allied fleet. 

At half-past six, the preconcerted signal of three shells 
went up, one after another, from a French battery, and 
the next instant the whole Allied batteries opened 
simultaneously. On the side of the British, seventy- 
three, and of the French, fifty-three, in all one hundred 
and twenty-six guns, one-half of which were of the very 
heaviest calibre, launched their thunders on the side of 



BOMBARDMENT OF SEBASTOPOL, 1854. 353 

the Allies ; while upwards of two hundred replied in one 
deafening roar from the Russian lines. Two long lines of 
belching flame and smoke appeared, and through the 
space between hurtled a shower of shot and shell, while 
the earth shook with the thunders of the deadly volleys. 

Distinctly amidst the din could be heard the immense 
Lancaster guns, which here, for the first time, gave evi- 
dence of their tremendous powers. Their sharp report, 
heard among the other heavy guns, was like the crack of 
a rifle among muskets. But the most singular thing was 
the sound of their ball, which rushed through the air with 
the noise and regular beat precisely like the passage of a 
rapid railway train at close distance — a peculiarity which, 
at first, excited shouts of laughter from the men, who 
nicknamed it the express-train. The effect of the shot 
was terrific ; from its deafening and peculiar noise, the 
ball could be distinetly traced by the ear to the spot 
where it struck, when stone or earth were seen to go 
down before it. 

The first few minutes' firing sufficed to show to each 
side, what neither had as yet accurately known, the actual 
strength of its opponents ; and it now appeared, that even 
in the extent of the earthwork batteries thrown up since 
the siege began, the Russians immensely surpassed their 
besiegers. Besides their stone forts, and a long line of 
intrenchments, guns of heavy calibre had been planted on 
every ridge and height ; and as fresh batteries were un- 
masked one after another, often in places totally unex- 
pected, the Allied generals were completely taken by 
surprise at the magnitude of the defences. 

Opposite to the French lines, the main strength of the 



354 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Russians lay in the Flag-staff batteries, erected upon a 
hill commanding the French works. They consisted of 
two tiers of intrenchments, each mounting about twenty- 
five guns, the upper of which tier of cannon was unknown 
to the besiegers until it opened fire; with several large 
mortars placed on the summit of the hill. And on the ex- 
treme right of the Russian lines was a ten-gun battery, most 
commanclingly placed, so as to enfilade the French lines. 

In this quarter the Russians had not only a great 
advantage in point of position, but also their guns out- 
numbered those of the French, and it soon became evi- 
dent that the French were fighting at a disadvantage, and 
were dreadfully galled in flank by the ten-gun battery. 

Suddenly, a little after nine o'clock, there came a loud 
explosion, — a dense cloud of smoke was seen hanging over 
one of the French batteries, and the Russians were ob- 
served on the parapets of their works cheering vigorously. 
The flank fire of the ten-gun battery had blown up one of 
the French magazines, killing or wounding about fifty 
men, and blowing the earthwork to atoms. 

The British batteries were more successful. The princi- 
pal works opposed to them were on their right front, the 
Round fort, a Martello tower, which had been faced up 
with earth. A battery of twenty heavy guns- was planted 
on the top of this tower, and exterior earthwork intrench- 
ments had been thrown up around it, mounted with artil- 
lery of heavy calibre. 

Next, nearly opposite the British centre, was the three- 
decker, the Twelve Apostles, placed across the harbor 
creek; and facing their left was the Redan redoubt, 
carrying about forty cannon, likewise surrounded by 



BOMBARDMENT OF SEBASTOPOL, 1854. 355 

intrenchments armed with numerous guns. On the British 
side, the principal redoubts were, the Crown battery, of 
27 guns, in the centre, fronting the Twelve Apostles, and 
the Green-Mound battery, opposite the Redan redoubt. 

At half-past three, a red-hot shot from the Russian 
three-decker, the Twelve Apostles, struck a powder wagon 
in the Crown battery, which exploded, killing one or two 
men, but leaving the works of the battery uninjured. 
The Russians cheered as before, imagining the same in- 
jury had been done, as previously to the French. 

Rut while they were still cheering, a shell from the 
Green Mound battery lodged in the powder magazine of 
the Redan redoubt, and blew it up with a tremendous 
explosion. A white livid flame suddenly shot high into 
the air, followed by a report that made the very earth 
tremble in the Allied lines, and the next minute its garri- 
son of hundreds, blown to atoms, were discovered strew- 
ing the around to a distance around. " In the midst of a 
dense volume of smoke and sparks," says an eye-witness, 
" which resembled a water-spout ascending to the clouds, 
were visible to the naked eye, arms, legs, trunks, and 
heads, of the Russian warriors, mingled with cannons, 
wheels, and every object of military warfare, and, indeed, 
every living thing it contained." So powerful was the 
effect which this explosion produced on the morale of the 
besiegers, which had been somewhat depressed by the 
misfortunes of the day, that the enthusiasm displayed was 
almost of a frantic nature. Both the English and French 
troops, as well as officers, doffed their caps, and threw 
them high into the air, at the same time giving a shout 
which might have been heard at Balaklava, a league off. 



"356 EUI10PE ASD THE ALLIES. 

The Russians, however, were nowise daunted, and re- 
sumed their fire with undiminished energy. 

While this terrific cannonade was going on by land, 
the Allied fleets were seen bearing down upon the strong 
forts which defend the mouth of the harbor. It had been 
arranged between the Admirals and Generals, that as soon 
as the attention of the Russians had been attracted to the 
landward attack, the fleets should move forward and take 
part in a general assault. The French took the Quaran- 
tine fort, and other works on the south side of the entrance 
to Sebastopol bay, and the British took Fort Constantino 
and the works on the north side. 

By half-past one o'clock, the action was fairly com- 
menced, and the conjoined roar from the guns of the 
fleet and in the forts, echoed by the thunders of the rival 
batteries on shore, baffled the imagination. Never before 
in the world's history was such a cannonade witnessed — 
even the tremendous cannonade of Leipsic and Trafalgar 
fades into insignificance before so gigantic a strife. The 
fleets advanced to the attack in two lines — the British 
from the north, the French from the south. 

Directly the vessels came within 2,000 yards, the forts 
opened fire, which the Allies never attempted to reply to 
until they took up their positions. The cannonade of the 
French was terrific and continuous ; enveloped in smoke, 
they kept up whole salvoes, which was terrific, the 
smoke being lit up by the volleys of flashes, and the roar 
of cannon continuous. The Turks followed the French in 
this, sometimes in whole broadsides, again their fire run- 
ning continuously along the line. There was less of this 



BOMBARDMENT OF SEBASTOPOL, 1854. 357 

with the English ships, whose style of firing appeared less 
awful, but more business-like. The Russians used red- 
hot shot, rockets, combustible shell, and bar-shot ; and the 
terrible effects of these soon made themselves apparent. 
The bar-shot cut the masts, spars, and rigging to pieces, 
and the rockets and red-hot shot raised conflagrations in 
many of the attacking vessels. 

The allied vessels met with but little success, and towards 
night stood out to sea, the Russians cheering vociferously, 
and redoubling their fire. 

Such were the incidents of this memorable opening day 
of the bombardment. 

On the 18th, the fleet did not renew the attack; and as 
the French batteries were wholly silenced for the time, 
the enemy were enabled to concentrate a terrific fire 
upon the British trenches. During the previous day's 
firing, the Russians had discovered the weak points of 
their opponents, as well as their own, and before morn- 
ing, had erected, with sand-bags, batteries on new and 
commanding positions. 

During the night of the 18th, the French worked 
incessantly, repaired al their batteries, and again open- 
ed fire on the morning of the 19th. Still they were 
unfortunate. About eleven o'clock a shell from the Rus- 
sian ten-gun battery once more blew up one of their 
magazines, killing most of the men in the battery, and 
dismounting most of the guns ; thus most of the French 
works were again silenced before two o'clock. 

The British lines kept up a hot fire throughout the 
whole day ; but though at times nearly one hundred shot 
and shell were thrown per minute, little or no effect was 



358 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

produced upon the Kussiau intrenchments. The enemy 
were provided with a perfectly inexhaustible supply of all 
the material requisite for a desperate defence. The 
instant a shot or shell struck their works the hole was 
filled up with sand-bags ; so that the besieged built up as 
fast as the besiegers knocked down. 

The French had repaired their injuries during the 
night, and resumed their lire ; but they were still terribly 
overmatched ; and, for the third time, one of their maga- 
zines was blown up, doing much damage. 

During the following night the French not only repaired 
their works, but in order to fire with more destructive 
effect, advanced one 'strong battery about two hundred 
yards nearer the enemy. This new advanced battery not 
only enabled them to maintain their ground, but even to 
destroy and silence their inveterate assailant, the Russian 
ten-gun battery. 

During the 22d the cannonade from the French lines 
was incessant, and told with great effect ; but early in the 
day the British batteries received orders to fire only once 
in eight minutes — occasioned by a deficiency of ammuni- 
tion. The Russians worked their guns with great energy 
and. precision, even under the hottest fire, standing to 
their pieces as boldly as on the first day of the siege ; and 
they continued to repair each night the injury done, to 
their works in the previous day. The loss of the Allies 
up to this point of the siege was about twelve hundred 
men. 

One feature in the memorable siege was the great use 
made of riflemen by the besieging force, and the extreme 
gallantry displayed by these men when at work. 



EXPLOITS OF A SOLDIER, 1854. 359 

Every day parties of skirmishers went out from the 
Allied lines, and lay under cover among the loose large 
stones about one thousand yards in advance of the batte- 
ries, and within two hundred yards of the Russian defences. 

This compelled the enemy to send out parties to dis- 
lodge them, and these, as they advanced for that purpose 
across the open ground, became exposed to the lire both 
of the skirmishers and of the trenches, and usually suffered 
severely. 

On one occasion a private in the British lines who had 
fired his last cartridge, was crouching along the ground to 
join the nearest covering-party, when two Russians sud- 
denly sprang from behind a rock, and seizing him by the 
collar, dragged him off towards Sebastopol. 

The Russian who escorted him on the left side held in 
his right hand his own firelock, and in his left the cap- 
tured Minie ; with a sudden spring the British soldier 
seized the Russian's firelock, shot its owner, clubbed his 
companion, and then, picking up his own Minie, made 
off in safety to his own lines. Another of these fellows 
resolved to do more work on his own account, got away 
from his compaiw, and crawled up close to a battery 
under shelter of a bridge. There he lay on his back, and 
loaded, turning over to fire; until, after killing eleven 
men, a party of Russians rushed out and he took to his 
heels ; but a volley fired after him levelled him with the 
earth, and his body was subsequently picked up by his 
comrades riddled with balls. 

Probably 100,000 shot and shell a-day, exclusive of 
night-firing, was the average amount of projectiles dis- 
charged by both parties in the extraordinary siege. 



360 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The darkness of night was constantly interrupted by the 
bursting of shell or rockets. 

The passage of the shells through the air, thrown to an 
amazing height from the mortars, appeared like that of 
meteors. To the eye, the shell seems to rise and fall 
almost perpendicularly ; sometimes burning, as it turns 
on its axis, and the fuse disappears in the rotation, with 
an interrupted pale light ; sometimes with a steady light, 
not unlike- the calm luminosity of a planet. As it travels 
it can be heard, amid the general stillness, uttering in the 
distance its peculiar sound, like the cry of the cm-lew. 
The blue light in a battery announces the starting of a 
rocket, which pursues its more horizontal course, followed 
by a fiery train, and rushes through the air with a loud 
whizzing noise that gives an idea of irresistible energy. 
So went on, day and night, ceaselessly, this unparalleled 
bombardment — a cataract of war, a Niagara of all dread 
sounds, whose ceaseless booming was heard for long miles 
around. Ship after ship, nearing the Crimean shores, 
heard from afar that dull, heavy sound, and all eyes were 
strained to catch sight of the dread scene, of that valley 
where the battle of Europe was being fought, where 
the cannon were ever sounding, and "the fire was not 
quenched." 



BATTLE OF BALAKLAVA. 



While the operations were being carried on around the 
walls of Sebastopol, events of, if possible, still greater 



ADVANCE OF THE RUSSIANS. 361 

importance were taking place a few miles off, upon the 
flanks and rear of the investing force. In truth, the 
Allies were as much besieged as besiegers. For about a 
fortnight after the affair at Mackenzie's Farm, on the 25th 
of September, nothing had been seen of the enemy, who 
had retired towards Bakshi-serai to await reinforcements. 
It was towards the end of the first week of October that 
the Russians began to assume the offensive. The Allies 
at first seem to have regarded their position as unassail- 
able ; but the enemy, thoroughly acquainted with every 
foot of the country, and consequently able to advance in 
the dark, soon showed them their mistake. 

At daybreak on the 6th, the Russians made an advance 
in force, for the purpose of reconnoitring, from the Tcher- 
naya into the valley or plain in rear of the heights occu- 
pied by the Allies ; and, after surprising, in the grey of 
the morning, a picket of the Fourth Dragoons, drew off 
again, having accomplished their object. During the fol- 
lowing night, a most daring reconnoissance was made, by 
a French officer and ten men, who, on their return to 
camp, reported that they had gone as far as the river Bel- 
bee, and had only seen the bivouac of the Russian troops 
who had made the reconnoissance the preceding day. In 
order to check further surprises from this quarter, parties 
of Zouaves and Foot Chasseurs were placed in ambuscade 
as outposts ; every evening at six o'clock four companies 
of them concealing themselves in a ravine through which 
the Russians would advance, and remaining there until 
daybreak next morning. 

The enemy, however, forsaking the line of attack by 
the road from Mackenzie's Farm, now began to appear 



362 EUROPE ASTD THE AELIES. 

among the mountains directly in rear of the Allied lines, 
and also close to Balaklava, advancing by a road from 
Kansara, through the hills, which was at first deemed by 
the Allied generals impracticable for artillery, and, con- 
sequently, along which no serious attack was anticipated. 
One day, however, a force of 2000 Russian cavalry, and 
8000 infantry, with nine or ten guns, made its appear- 
ance in this quarter, but withdrew without showing 
fight. 

As soon as it became evident that the principal attacks 
of the Russian relieving army would be directed against 
Balaklava, means were taken to put that place in a state 
of defence. One of the first, was to turn out the Greek 
and Russian inhabitants. The little bay, so narrow at its 
entrance that only one ship could get out at a time, was 
crowded with upwards of a hundred transports, in which, 
besides other stores, as well as in the buildings on shore, 
were large magazines of gunpowder ; and as it was re- 
ported that the Greek population, besides acting as spies, 
had actually concerted to aid the Russian attack by 
simultaneously setting fire to the town, Lord Raglan 
ordered every one of them to be ejected from the place. 
At the same time, a redoubt, armed with heavy guns and 
manned with 1200 marines from the fleet, was constructed 
upon the summit of a conical hill, on the further side of 
the bay, about 1000 feet high, and commanding the coast 
road approaching Balaklava from the east. Other redoubts 
were so placed as to command the road from the Tchernaya, 
and also from Kamara, through the mountains. 

Balaklava does not fall within the natural line of de- 
fence for besieging Sebastopol. It is held as a separate 



POSITION OF THE ALLIES. 353 

post, three miles in advance of Sebastopol heights, which 
form the main position of the besieging force. 

The British occupied a convex line of heights, stretch- 
ing from the Tchernaya, near its month, to the sea-coast, 
midway between Cape Chersonese and Balaklava. On 
the north-east is a valley or plain, not level, bnt broken 
by little eminences, about three miles long by two in 
width. 

Towards the Tchernaya this valley is swallowed up 
in a mountain gorge and deep ravines, above which rise 
tier after tier of desolate whitish rocks. At its other ex- 
tremity the valley in a similar manner contracts into a 
gorge, through which the high road passes, leading down 
to Balaklava. 

On the crest of the Allied line of heights, overlooking 
this plain, the French had constructed very formidable 
intrenchments, mounted with a few guns and lined by 
Zouaves and artillerymen. 

Intersecting the plains, about two miles and a half from 
Balaklava, is a series of conical heights, the highest and 
farthest off of which joins the mountain range on the 
opposite side of the valley, while the nearest one was 
commanded by the French intrenchments. On these 
eminences earth-work redoubts had been constructed, 
each mounted with two or three pieces of heavy ship 
guns, and manned by 250 Turks. 

At the end of the plain next Balaklava, and stationed 
at the mouth of the gorge leading down to it, were tho 
93d Highlanders. 

In the plain, about ten miles from Balaklava, were 
picketed the cavalry, commanded in chief by the Earl of 



364 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Lucan, consisting of the Light Brigade, 607 strong, and 
the Heavy Brigade, mustering 1000 sabres. 

Such was the position of the rearward forces of the 
Allies on the morning of the 25th October, 1854, when 
the Russians, under General Liprandi, starting from 
Kamara about five o'clock, advanced to attack them. The 
cavalry pickets, riding in haste, soon brought intelligence 
of the attack to the Allied head-quarters, and measures 
were instantly taken to forward all the troops that could 
be spared from before Sebastopol to the menaced point. 

The Dnke of Cambridge and Sir George Cathcart were 
ordered to advance with the 1st and 4th divisions with all 
speed, while Bosquet's French division received similar 
orders from General Canrobert. 

• Soon after eight o'clock, Lord Raglan and his staff 
turned out, and cantered towards the rear. The booming 
of artillery, the spattering roll of musketry, were heard 
rising from the valley, drowning the roar of the siege 
guns in front before Sebastopol. General Bosquet, a stout, 
soldier-like looking man, followed with his staff and a 
small escort of hussars at a gallop. 

From their position on the summit of the heights, form- 
ing the rear of the British position, and overlooking the 
plain of Balaklava, the Allied generals beheld the aspect 
of the combat. Immediately below, in the plain, the 
British cavalry, under Lord Lucan, were seen rapidly 
forming into glittering masses, while the 93d Highlanders, 
under Sir Colin Campbell, drew up in line in front of the 
gorge leading to Balaklava. 

The main body of the Russians was by this time visible 
about two and a half miles off, advancing up the narrow 



BATTLE OF BALAKLAVA, 1S54. 265 

valley leading from the Yaeta pass. A mile in front of 
them were two batteries of light artillery, playing vigor- 
ously on the Turkish redoubts, and escorted by a cloud of 
mounted skirmishers, " wheeling and whirling like au- 
tumn leaves before the wind ;" following those were large, 
compact squares of cavalry ; and in rear of all came solid 
masses of infantry, with twenty pieces of artillery in row 
before them. The enemy rapidly advanced his cavalry 
and horse-artillery, so as to overpower the detached corps 
of Turks before any troops could be moved forward from 
the main body to support them. In this he perfectly 
succeeded, and the second redoubt was abandoned, as the 
first had been — its defenders being severely cut up in 
their flight by the Cossack horse. They ran in scattered 
groups across towards the next redoubt, and towards Bala- 
klava, but the horse-hoof of the Cossack was too quick for 
them, and sword and lance were busily plied among the 
retreating herd. The yells of the pursuers and pursued 
were plainly audible. As the lancers and light cavalry 
of the Russians advanced, they gathered up their skir- 
mishers with great speed, and in excellent order; the 
shifting trails of men, which played all over the valley, 
like moonlight on the water, contracted, gathered up, and 
the little pelotons in a few moments became a solid column. 
Then up came their guns, in rushed their gunners to the 
abandoned redoubts, and the guns of the second redoubt 
soon played with deadly effect upon the dispirited de- 
fenders of the third. Two or three shots in return from 
the earthworks, and all is silent. The Turks swarm over 
the earthworks, and run in confusion towards the town, 
firing their muskets at the enemy as thev run. 



366 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Again the solid column of cavalry opens like a fan, and 
resolves itself into a long spray of skirmishers. It over- 
laps the flying Turks, steel-flashes in the air, and down gees 
the poor Moslem, quivering on the plain, split through 
fez and musket-guard to the chin and breast-belt. There 
is no support for them. The remnant of the Turks, flying 
towards Balaklava, took refuge behind the ranks of the 
93d Highlanders, and were formed into line on the wings 
of the regiment. The Russians by this time had turned 
the guns of the captured redoubt against the Allied front, 
but with little effect, as Sir Colin withdrew his High- 
landers out of range, and the British Cavalry were hid 
from view by an undulating swell of the plain. 

Encouraged by this retiring movement, the whole mass 
of Russian cavalry, about 4,000 strong, now came sweep- 
ing into the plain, with the obvious intention of breaking 
through the Allied line before reinforcements could arrive 
from before Sebastopol. This was the crisis of the day, 
as the slightest reverse to the Allies in this quarter would 
have been attended with serious consequences. 

On came the foe in brilliant masses, pouring down at a 
canter into the plain and on to the high road. Here one 
body of horse, 1,500 strong, rapidly wheeling to their 
left, charged down the road towards Balaklava, against 
the single Highland regiment which there barred the 
way, and which awaited their approach in a line two 
deep. At 800 yards the Turks, drawn up on the wings 
of the regiment, discharged their muskets, and fled. 

" Highlanders !" exclaimed Sir Colin Campbell, as he 
saw his men wavering on being thus deserted, "if you 
don't stand firm, not a man of you will be left alive." 



BATTLE OF BALAKLAVA, 1854. 367 

At 600 yards the regiment fired, but with little effect, 
upon the Russian squadrons now advancing at a gallop. 
The anxiety of the onlookers grew intense as they beheld 
that immense body of charging cavalry within 150 yards 
of their Highland line, when down again went the level 
line of Minie rifles, a steady volley rang out, and the next 
instant the attacking squadrons were seen wheeling off to 
the right and left in retreat. 

Meanwhile the main body of the Eussian cavalry swept 
on straight across the plain, apparently with the design 
of carrying the thinly-defended heights at a gallop. But 
a foe intervened of which they did not make sufficient 
account. The instant they topped the little eminence in 
front of the British cavalry, the trumpets of the Heavy 
Brigade sounded the charge, and away went the brigade 
in two lines, the Scots Greys and Enniskillens in front, 
led on by Brigadier-General Scarlett. The Russians were 
likewise in two lines, and more than twice as deep. The 
shock was terrific, but lasted only for a moment. The 
handful of red-coats broke through the enemy, scattering 
the first line right and left, and then charged the second 
line, which came spurring up to the rescue. It was a 
fight of heroes. The position of the Greys and Enniskil- 
leners quickly became one of imminent danger ; for while 
cutting their way in splendid style through their foes, the 
Russian first line rallied again, and bore down upon their 
rear. God help them, they are lost ! burst from the 
Allied generals and on-lookers: when, like a thunder-bolt, 
the 1st Royals and 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards, forming 
the British second line, broke with one terrible assault 
upon the foe, cutting through the line of rallying Rus- 



368 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

sians as if it were pasteboard, and then, falling upon the 
flank of the Russian line, disordered by the terrible assault, 
put it to utter rout. A cheer burst from every lip, and, 
in the enthusiasm, officers and men on the heights took 
off their caps and shouted with delight. The loss to the 
British in this splendid charge was very trifling. All 
danger to the Allied position was now past. The enemy 
had made their rush, and failed. The British and French 
divisions, arriving from before Sebastopol, began to take 
up a position in the plain, and the Russians drawing back 
and concentrating their forces, relinquished all the cap- 
tured redoubts save one. The fight seemed over ; when 
an unlucky mistake, the precise origin of which is still 
shrouded in mystery, gave rise to a most brilliant but 
disastrous feat of arms. 

The British cavalry had been advanced to the edge 
of the plain next the enemy, who were now slowly 
retiring up the narrow valley leading to the Yaeta 
Pass, from which they had debouched in the morning. 
In a gorge of this narrow valley, at about a mile and a 
half distant from the British horse, a battery of nine heavy 
Russian guns was posted, with infantry and a body of 
2,000 cavalry in rear. Captain Nolan, of the Light Bri- 
gade, one of the best swordsmen and cavalry tacticians in 
the army, now came galloping up with an order from the 
Commander-in-chief to Lord Lucan to advance with the 
light cavalry, and, if possible, prevent the enemy from 
carrying off the guns which they had captured in the 
redoubts. The moment the Russians beheld the squadrons 
advancing, they covered the slopes of the valley with 
Minie riflemen, and quickly planted two batteries on the 



CHARGE OF THE LIGHT CAVALRY, 1854. 369 

heights, one oh either side of the gorge. Formed in two 
lines, the British light cavalry advanced rapidly into the 
valley of death — not a man flinching, and Lord Cardigan 
leading on with a coolness and contempt of danger that 
was magnificent. When they arrived at about 1,200 
yards from the enemy, thirty Russian cannons simulta- 
neously opened fire upon them, knocking over men and 
horses in numbers, and wounded or riderless steeds were 
seen flying over the field. Galloping on, they advanced 
up the valley, through this terrific cross-fire, towards the 
battery directly in front. The first line is broken, it is 
joined by the second, they never halt or check their 
speed an instant ; with diminished ranks, thinned by those 
thirty guns, which the Russians had laid with the most 
deadly accuracy, with a halo of flashing steel above their 
heads and with a cheer which was many a noble fellow's 
death-cry, they flew into the smoke of the batteries, but 
ere they were lost from view the plain was strewed with 
their bodies, and with the carcases of horses. Lord 
Cardigan was almost unhorsed by a 32-pounder exploding 
within a foot of his charger, and a shell bursting at his 
side, struck Captain Nolan in the breast, and with an 
involuntary shriek, the gallant officer fell dead from his 
saddle. The Russian gunners stood to their pieces till the 
dragoons were within ten yards of them, and were sabred 
to a man. Without drawing bridle, the British horse next 
charged the mass of cavalry in front of them, routed it, 
and pursued it pell-mell. Whilst the pursuit was at its 
height, suddenly the order was shouted " Wheel about !" 
The enemy, instead of being broken by their own men 
flying, formed up four deep in front of the charging horse, 



370 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

while a mass of lancers descended into their rear. But, 
nothing daunted, the heroic light horse, facing about, 
charged again through the gathering forces of the enemy, 
repassed the guns, and closed in desperate contest with 
the Russian lancers. 

At this moment the Russian artillerymen, returning to 
the guns behind, sent a deadly shower of grape into the 
lighting mass of horsemen, indiscriminately at friend and 
foe. The charge lasted barely half-an-honr, and but 198 
out of 800 returned to the British lines. 

"Whilst the batteries were firing upon the retiring 
cavalry, a body of French chasseurs d'Afrique charged 
at the guns erected on the left of the valley, and forced 
them to retire. After sabering amongst the Russian 
skirmishers, the chasseurs retired. 

This closed the operations of the day. The Russians 
withdrew their forces from the heights, and did not carry 
out their menaced attack on Balaklava. 

The bombardment of the forts before Sebastopol con- 
tinued without cessation all day. 

Elated by their success against the Turks, and the cap- 
ture of the guns of the redoubts, the Russians attempted 
a sortie from Sebastopol on the following day, the 26th 
October, whose strength exceeded 9000 infantry, with a 
numerous artillery; but no sooner had they entered 
within range of the Allies' guns, which, eighteen in 
number, had taken up their position, than the word, "fire," 
was given, and a volley of shell tore open the ranks of 
the Russians, and checked their advance. The guns 
being reloaded, a second discharge, no less severe in its 
execution, caused the enemy to wheel round and retire. 



SOKTIE OF THE RUSSIANS, 1854. 37 1 

A few rockets, dexterously discharged, transferred this 
retreat into a rout. Upwards of 200 Kussians were 
killed, and a large quantity of muskets and sabres taken. 
After this unsuccessful sortie of the Russians, the sie^e 
continued without any incident of particular interest to 
November 5th. 



372 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 



SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. 

Lord Raglan — His Life — Battle of Inkerman — Morning of Battle— Soo* 
of Emperor Nicholas — The Attack— Troops Engaged — Fierce Encounters 
— Sir George Cathcart — His Death — Russian Cruelty — French In- 
fantry — The Zouaves — Chasseurs — Russians Retire — Renewed Attack 
— Repulsed by the French — Defeat — Sorties — Night after Battle— « 
Treaty with Austria of 2d Dec. — Negotiations for Peace — The Four 
Points — Landing of Ome.r Pacha at Eupatoria. 

FIELD-MARSHAL LORD RAGLAN. 

Loed Raglan, Commander-in-Chief of the English army, 
is a descendant of the Somersets, the youngest son of 
the fifth Duke of Beaufort. Pie was born in Sept. 1788, 
and christened Fitzroy James Henry Somerset. He was 
a cornet in the 4th light dragoons at sixteen, and rose in 
military rank, as the boyish sons of Dukes do rise, over 
the heads of their seniors. He was a captain at twenty. 
He went with the troops to Portugal, and fought in the 
first great battle — that of Talavera, in which the French 
and English armies fairly and singly tried their strength 
against each other. 

Lord Fitzroy Somerset was then under one-and-twenty, 
and it was not the first battle he had seen since he landed 
in the Peninsula. He learned much of his military 
science within the lines of Torres Yedras, and was se- 
verely wounded at the battle of Busaco. 

By this time, the young soldier had won the notice and 
strong regard of Wellington, who had made him, first, 
his aide-de-camp, and then his military secretary, a singu- 
lar honor for a man under two-and-twenty. The duties 




LORD RAGLAN 



LORD RAGLAN, 1854. 373 

of his various functions kept him diligently occupied 
during the whole of the Peninsular War. He was pre- 
sent and active in every one of the great Peninsular 
battles, and was, in the intervals, the medium of the 
Duke's commands and arrangements. The Duke's 
avowed opinion was, that the successes of that seven 
years' war were due, next to himself, to his military secre- 
tary. He became Major in 1811, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
the year after. He returned to England after Bonaparte's 
.abdication, in 1814. 

Lord Fitzroy Somerset married in the August of that 
year the second daughter of Lord Mornington, and thus 
became the nephew, by marriage, of the Duke of Wel- 
lington. None then dreamed what misfortune awaited 
the young bridegroom within the first year of his mar- 
riage. On Napoleon's return from Elba, the Secretary 
went out with the Commander-in-Chief, and as his aide, 
he was on the field during the three days of June, which 
ended the war. 

The Duke was wont to offer to bear the responsibility 
of an omission in the Battle of Waterloo — the neglecting to 
break an entrance in the back wall of the farmstead of 
La Haye Sainte, whereby the British occupants might 
have been reinforced and supplied with ammunition. It 
was the want of ammunition which gave the French tem- 
porary possession of the place, and that temporary pos- 
session cost many lives, and Lord Fitzroy Somerset his 
right arm. 

He came home to his bride thus maimed before he was 
twenty-seven, but with whatever compensation an abun- 
dance of honor could afford. For nearly forty years 



374 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

afterwards it was supposed by himself and the world, that 
his wars were ended, and he devoted himself to official 
service at home. 

He entered Parliament in 1818. He was always in 
request for secretaryships at the Ordnance and to the 
Commander-in-Chief. He rose in military rank at inter- 
vals, and became a Lieutenant-General in the year 1838. 

When the Duke of Wellington died, and Lord Har- 
dinge was made Commander-in-Chief, Lord Fitzroy So- 
merset became Master-General of the Ordnance, and was 
raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Raglan. 

It presently appeared that his wars were not over. 
During the long interval he had sent out his eldest son in 
the service of his country, and lost him in the field at 
Ferozeshah in 18-15. June years after this bereavement, 
the father went out himself once more, and this time in 
full command. 

When war with Russia was determined on, with Lord 
Raglan dwelt the traditions of the Iron Duke, and no one 
was so thoroughly versed in the wisdom which had for 
seven long and hard years won the successes of the 
Peninsular war. ~No one seemed so well to know the 
army and its administration, and no one else so effectually 
combined the military and practical official characters, a 
combination which, if always necessary to make a good 
general, is most emphatically so in the country which is 
the scene of the present war. To Turkey, therefore, he 
went, and after the battles of Alma, Balaklava, and 
Inkerman, was raised to the rank of Field-Marshal. 

Public opinion is divided in this country as to his 
merits as a general ; but the sequel will show, should the 



BATTT/E OF INKERMAN, 1854. 375 

war be continued, whether he is capable of occupying the 
place inherited from Wellington. 



BATTLE OF INKERMAN. 

On Sunday, the 5th of November, 1854, one of the most 
sanguinary battles ever fought within the memory of man, 
took place on the heights of Inkerman, under the walls of 
Sebastopol. 

It is a difficult task, in a few lines of prose, to render 
justice to a bravery which excels that sung by the blind 
and immortal bard of Greece. We might devote page 
after page to individual feats of heroic daring in this fear- 
ful struggle, when 8,000 British troops and 6,000 French- 
men defeated an army of 60,000 Russians, who left more 
killed and wounded upon the battle-field than the whole 
force the Allies brought against them. 

From the preceding pages, the position of the besieging 
forces is already familiar to our readers. On referring to 
the map of the Crimea, may be seen a road connecting 
Balaklava and Sebastopol. From this road to the heights 
which crown the valley of the Tchernaya, extended the 
British lines. These heights form a right angle nearly 
opposite the ruins of Inkerman, and there run parallel 
with the river from which the valley has derived its 
name. On the other side of the Tchernaya rise a succes- 
sion of hills above the ruins of Inkerman, where the Rus- 
sians had established themselves. 



376 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The night between the 4th and 5th November was 
passed without apprehension by the allied troop's. It 
had rained almost incessantly, and the early morning 
gave no promise of any cessation of the heavy showers 
which had fallen for the previous four-and-twenty hours. 
Towards dawn a heavy fog settled down on the heights, 
and on the valley of the Inkerman. The fog, and vapors 
of drifting rain were so thick as morning broke, that one 
could scarcely see ten yards before him. 

At four o'clock the bells of the churches in Sebastopol 
were heard ringing drearily through the cold night air ; 
but the occurrence had been so usual that it excited no 
particular attention. 

No one suspected for a moment that enormous masses 
of Russians w,ere creeping up the rugged sides of the 
heights over the valley of Inkerman, on the undefended 
flank of the Second Division. There all was security and 
repose. Little did the slumbering troops in camp ima- 
gine that a subtle and indefatigable enemy were bringing 
into position an overwhelming artillery, ready to play 
upon their tents at the first glimpse of daylight. 

Yet such was the case. The arrival of the Grand 
Dukes Michael and Nicholas, sons of the Emperor, with 
large reinforcements, determined Prince Menschikoff to 
make the attempt to annihilate the besieging forces, and 
raise the siege. 

At daybreak (that is, at six o'clock), the alarm was 
given in the British camp that the Russians had surprised 
the advanced picquets, and were already in possession of 
all the heights commanding their position. The whole 
army stood to arms without delay. Presently a Russian 



BATTLE OF INKJEJKSiAN, 1854. 3f7 

battery appeared upon the crest of the height known as 
Shell-hill, near Careening Bay, whilst columns of infantry 
were descried already descending the hills, or marching 
up the ravines, which faced the front of the British posi- 
tion. The most serious attack of the Russians was, how- 
ever, directed against the flank of the British army, along 
the heights running parallel to the valley of the Tcher- 
naya. 

The entire force which the British mustered to defend 
their vast front and flank lines, was confined to the follow- 
ing. The remainder of the army were in the trenches, 
prepared to oppose any attack upon the siege batteries : 

Guards, about - 1,000 

Second Division .... 2,500 

Light Division .... 1,000 

Fourth Division .... 2,200 

Third Division --'-.- 1,000 



7,700 



The odds were therefore, frightful, and it was only 
three hours later that General Bosquet opportunely 
arrived, with his splendid division, six thousand strong, 
the same which had fought at the Alma. 

The Russians in the front had now advanced to within 
five hundred yards of the encampment, and the action 
commenced. The musketry fire was awful, and the 
enemy, who had now guns upon every favorable position, 
hurled shell and round shot at the advancing lines. 



378 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The enemy's columns continued to push forward, trying 
to overwhelm the British regiments with their superior 
numbers. " And now (to quote the words of an eye-wit- 
ness of the battle) commenced the bloodiest struggle ever 
witnessed since war cursed the earth. It has been 
doubted by military historians if any enemy have ever 
stood a charge with the bayonet, but here the bayonet 
was often the only weapon employed in conflicts of the 
most obstinate and deadly character. Not only did the 
English charge in vain, not only were desperate encounters 
between masses of men maintained with the bayonet 
alone, but they were obliged to resist bayonet to bayonet, 
with the Russian infantry again and again, as they 
charged the British with incredible fury and determina- 
tion." 

The battle of Inkerman admits of no description. It 
was a series of dreadful deeds of daring, of sanguinary 
hand-to-hand fights, of despairing rallies, of desperate 
assaults, in glens and valleys, in brushwood glades and 
remote dells, hidden from all human eyes, and from which 
the conquerors, Russian or British, issued, only to engage 
fresh foes. 

It was essentially a struggle between pluck and confi- 
dence, against fearful odds and obstinate courage. 

No one, however placed, could have witnessed even a 
small portion of the doings of this eventful day, for the 
vapors, fog, and drizzling mist, obscured the ground where 
the struggle took place to such an extent, as to render it 
impossible to see what was going on at the distance of 
fifty yards. Besides this, the irregular nature of the 
ground, the rapid fall of the hill towards Inkerman, where 



BATTLE OF INKEEMAM", 1S54. 379 

the deadliest fight took place, would have prevented one, 
under the most favorable circumstances, seeing more 
than a very insignificant and detailed piece of the terrible 
work below. 

It was six o'clock when all the Head-quarter camp was 
roused by roll after roll of musketry on the right, and by 
the sharp report of field-guns. 

Lord Raglan was informed that the enemy were advan- 
cing in force, and soon after seven o'clock lie rode towards 
the scene of action, followed by his staff, and accompanied 
by Sir John Burgoyne, Brigadier General Strangways, 
and several aides-de-camp. 

As they approached the volume of sound, the steady 
unceasing thunder of gun, and rifle, and musket, told that 
the engagement was at its height. The shell of the Rus- 
sians, thrown with great precision, burst so thickly among 
the troops that the noise resembled continuous discharges 
of cannon, and the massive fragments inflicted death on 
every side. 

Colonel Gambier was at once ordered to get up two 
heavy guns (eighteen pounders) on the rising ground, and 
to reply to a fire which the light guns were utterly inade- 
quate to meet As he was engaged in this duty he was 
severely wounded, and obliged to retire. His place was 
taken by Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson, who, in directing 
the fire of these two pieces, which had the most marked 
effect in deciding the fate of the day, elicited the admira- 
tion of the army. 

But long ere these guns had been brought up, there 
had been a great slaughter of the enemy, and a heavy 



380 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

loss of the British. The generals could not see where to 
go. The j could not tell where the enemy were— from 
what side they were coming, or where going. In dark- 
ness, gloom, and rain, they led the lines through thick 
scrubby bushes and thorny brakes, which broke the 
ranks, and irritated the men, while every place was 
marked by a corpse or man wounded from an enemy 
whose position was only indicated by the rattle of 
musketry, and the rush of ball and shell. 

Sir George Cathcart, seeing his men disordered by the 
fire of a large column of Russian infantry, which was out- 
flanking them, while portions of the various regiments 
composing his division were maintaining an unequal strug- 
gle with an overwhelming force, went down into a ravine 
in which they were engaged to rally them. He rode at 
their head encouraging them, and when a cry arose that 
the ammunition was failing, he said coolly, " Have you 
not got your bayonets ? " As he led on his men, it was 
observed that another body of men had gained the top of 
the hill behind them on the right, but it was impossible 
to tell whether they were friends or foes. A deadly vol- 
ley was poured into the scattered British regiments. Sir 
George cheered them, and led them back up the hill, but 
a flight of bullets passed where he rode, and he fell from 
his horse close to the Russian columns. His body was 
recovered mutilated with bayonet wounds. 

"When he fell, Colonel Seymour, who was with him, 
instantly dismounted, and was endeavoring to raise the 
body, when he himself received a ball which fractured 
his leg. He fell to the ground beside his general, and 
a Russian officer and five or six men running in, bayo- 



BATTLE OF INKEKMAN, 1554. 381 

neted him, and cut him to pieces as he lay helpless. The 
Russians bayoneted the wounded in every part of the 
field, giving no quarter, and apparently determined to 
exterminate the Allies, or drive them into the sea. 

The conflict on the right was equally uncertain and 
equally bloody. To the extreme right a contest, the like 
of which, perhaps, never took place before, was going on 
between the guards and dense columns of Russian in- 
fantry of five times their number. The guards had 
charged them and driven them back, when they per- 
ceived that the Russians had outflanked them. They 
were out of ammunition, too, and were uncertain whether 
there were friends or foes in the rear. They had no sup- 
port, no reserve, were fighting with the bayonet against 
an enemy who stoutly contested every inch of ground, 
when the corps of another Russian column appeared on 
their right far to their rear. Then a fearful mitraiUe was 
poured into them, and volleys of rifle and musketry. 

The guards were broken ; they had lost twelve officers 
dead on the field ; they had left one-half of their number 
dead on the ground ; and they retired along the lower 
road of the valley ; but they were soon reinforced, and 
speedily avenged their loss. 

The French advance, about ten o'clock, turned the 
flank of the enemy. 

When the body of French infantry appeared on the 
right of the British position, it was a joyful sight to the 
struggling regiments. The 3d regiment of Zouaves, 
under the chiefs of battalion, supported in the most 
striking manner the ancient reputation of that force. 
The French artillery had already begun to play with 



382 



EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 




ZOUAVE CHIEF. 



BATTLE OF LNKJEKMAN, 1854. 383 

deadly effect on trie right wing of the Russians, when 
three battalions of chasseurs d'Orleans rushed by, the 
light of battle on their faces. They were accompanied 
by a battalion of chasseurs Indigenes— the Arab Sepoys 
of Algiers. Their trumpets sounded above the din of 
battle. Assailed in front, broken in several places by the 
impetuosity of the charge, renewed again and again, 
attacked by the French infantry on the right, and by ar- 
tillery all along the line, the Russians began to retire, 
and at twelve o'clock they were driven pell-mell down 
the hill towards the valley, where pursuit would have 
been madness, as the roads were covered by their artil- 
lery. They left mounds of dead behind them. At twelve 
o'clock the battle of Inkerman seemed to tave been won ; 
but the day, which had cleared up for an hour previously, 
again became obscured. Rain and fog set in ; and as the 
Allies could not pursue the Russians, who were retiring 
under the shelter of their artillery, they had formed in 
front of the lines, and were holding the battle-field so 
stoutly contested, when the enemy, taking advantage of 
the Allies' quietude, again advanced, while their guns 
pushed forward and opened a tremendous fire. 

General Canrobert, who never quitted Lord Raglan for 
much of the early part of the day, at once directed the 
French to advance and outflank the enemy. In his ef- 
forts he was most nobly seconded by General Bosquet. 
General Canrobert was slightly wounded, and his imme- 
diate attendants suffered severely. 

The renewed assault was so admirably managed that 
the Russians sullenly retired, still protected by their 
crushing artillery. 



384 EUB0PE AND THE ALLIES. 

The loss sustained by the English army was 2,400 
killed or wounded : of the French, 1,726. The Eussians, 
in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 15,000. 



THE NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE. 

An eye-witness thus describes the night after the battle : 
" On the evening of the battle I went over the field. 
All the wounded had been removed. There is nothing 
so awful as the spectacle of the bodies of those who have 
been struck down by round shot or shell. Some had 
their heads taken off by the neck, as with an axe ; others, 
their legs gone from their hips ; others their arms ; and 
others again, who were hit in the chest or stomach, were 
literally as mashed as if they had been crushed in a 
machine. Passing up to Sebastopol, over heaps of Eus- 
sian dead, I came to the spot where the Guards had been 
compelled to retire from the defence of the wall above 
Inkerman valley. Here the dead of the Allies were 
nearly as numerous as the enemy's. Beyond this the 
Eussian Guardsmen and line regiments lay as thick as 
leaves ; intermixed with dead and wounded horses. The 
path lay through thick brushwood, but it was slippery 
with blood, and the brushwood was broken down and 
encumbered with the dead. The scene from the battery 
was awful beyond description. I stood upon its parapet 
at about nine at night, and felt my heart sink as I gazed 
upon the scene of carnage around." 



NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE, 1854. 385 

" The moon was at its full, ana showed every object as 
if by the light of day. Facing me was the valley of 
Inkerman, with the Tchernaya, like a band of silver, 
flowing gracefully between the hills, which, for varied 
and picturesque beauty, might vie with any part of the 
world. 

Yet I shall never recall the memory of Inkerman 
valley with any but feelings of horror; for round the 
spot from which I surveyed the scene lay upwards of five 
thousand bodies. 

Some lay as if prepared for burial, and as though 
the hands of relatives had arranged their mangled limbs ; 
while others again were in almost startling positions, half 
standing or kneeling, clutching their weapons or drawing 
a cartridge. 

Many lay with both their hands extended towards the 
sky, as if to avert a blow or utter a prayer; while 
others had a malignant scowl of fear and hatred. The 
moonlight imparted an aspect of unnatural paleness to 
their forms, and as the cold, clamp wind swept round the 
hills and waved the boughs above their upturned faces, 
the shadows gave a horrible appearance of vitality ; and 
it seemed as if the dead were laughing, and about to rise. 
This was not the case on one spot, but all over the bloody 
field." 

The whole of the 6th (the day after the battle) was 
devoted to the sorry task of burying the dead. A council 
of war was held, presided over by Lord Raglan, at which 
it was determined to winter in the Crimea, and orders 
were issued accordingly. 

Large reinforcements were demanded both by Lord 



386 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Eaglan and General Canrobert, which, with considerable 
promptitude, have been despatched by their respective 
governments, and many of them are already on the 
spot. 

In the period which has elapsed since the battle of 
Inkerman no battle has been fought. ' The usual routine 
of siege operations has gone on ; sorties have taken place 
from the besieged city, both upon the French and English 
lines, which have, in every instance, been victoriously 
repulsed. But a more formidable enemy than the Czar 
of all the Russias has taken the field against the Allies. 
Winter, with his chilling aspect and freezing breath, 
accompanied by his suite of sleet and storm, and hurricane 
and snow, has made his appearance more terrible than for 
many a year past. At times all operations have been 
suspended ; the trenches filled with water, and many 
a shivering form has laid itself down without even the 
comfort of a plank between it and the dripping earth to 
dream of home and to die. The sufferings of such are 
known only to Him who tempers the wind to the shorn 
lamb. 

On the 14th November, one of the fiercest storms 
known within the memory of man burst over the Black 
Sea. Off Balaklava, where the cliffs are steep and 
abrupt, eight transports became total wrecks, and every 
soul on board but 30 perished. 

A magnificent new steamer, the " Prince," of 3,000 
tons burden, having arrived but a few days previously 
from England, and landed in safety the 46th regiment, 
was obliged to anchor outside in consequence of the 
crowded state of the harbor. The hurricane took her 



STORM ON THE BLACK SEA, 1854. 387 

unawares, and was so severe that her cables parted ; the 
roaring surf tossed her like an egg-shell upon the rocks, 
and the next instant nothing but a wreathing mist could 
be seen hanging over the spot where her noble timbers lay 
buried. Out of 150 souls on board, but six were saved. 
Her cargo was invaluable at that particular time, and con- 
sisted of a great portion of the winter clothing for the 
troops, including 40,000 suits of clothes, and large quan- 
tities of shot, shell, and medical stores. Altogether, 18 
British and 12 French ships were lost at Balaklava. 

Off the Ivatscha, five English and eight French ships 
were cast ashore. 

At Eupatoria, the Henri IV., a French ship of the 
line, the French war-steamer, Pluton, seven French and 
five English transports, and a Turkish line-of-battle ship, 
were driven on shore. 

During the confusion of the storm, an attack was made 
on the town of Eupatoria by 4,000 Russian cavalry, with 
14 pieces of artillery, but was gallantly repulsed by the 
cannon and rockets of the garrison. 

The continuance of unfavorable weather has rendered 
the camps almost untenable, and the roads impassable. 
The British government, to obviate the difficulty, have 
sent out all the materials necessary for the construction 
of a railroad from Balaklava to Sebastopol heights, 
with a sufficient number of navvies (or laborers) to com- 
plete the same at an early day. 

On the 2nd of December, a change took place in the 
views of the Austrian cabinet, which was interpreted as 
favorable to the Western Powers. . 

A treaty was signed at Vienna by the Earl of West- 



388 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

moreland, the Baron de Bourgueney, and Count Buol, as 
representatives of their respective governments, of which 
the following are the principal conditions : — The high 
contracting parties engage not to enter into any engage- 
ment with Russia without deliberating in common. The 
Emperor of Austria engages to defend the Principalities 
against any attack by the Russians, and that nothing shall 
be done by his troops to interfere with the free action of 
the Allies against the Russian frontier. A commission, to 
consist of a plenipotentiary from each government, with 
the addition of a Turkish commissioner, is to sit at Vienna, 
to decide all questions arising out of the occupation. In 
case of hostilities arising between Austria and Russia, an 
offensive and defensive alliance is to be de facto esta- 
blished between the former and the "Western Powers, and 
no suspension of hostilities will be concluded without the 
agreement of all the three Powers. 

The ratifications of this treaty were exchanged on the 
14th. 

The King of Prussia had played so vacillating a part 
that the influence of that cabinet had ceased to be felt, and 
she was neither consulted nor regarded. 

Negotiations for peace have been set on foot, with some 
hope of success, but as a basis for negotiation, Great 
Britain, France, and Austria, unanimously determined 
to insist upon, and abide by, the following four 
points : 

1st. The abolition of the Protectorate over the Danu- 
hian Principalities, and the privileges of those provinces 
placed under the collective guarantee of the contracting 
powers. 



THE FOUR POINTS, 1854. 38 U 

2d. The free navigation of the mouths of the Danube 
secured according to the principles established by the Con- 
gress of Vienna. 

od. The revision of the Treaty of 13th July, 1841, in 
the interest of the balance of power in Europe. 

4th. The abandonment, by Russia, of her claim to exer- 
cise an official protectorate over the Christian subjects of 
the Porte {to whatever rite they might belong) in conside- 
ration of the Powers giving their mutual assistance to 
obtain from the Sultan a confirmation and observance of 
the religious privileges of all Christian communities. 

A period of fourteen days was given Prince Gortschakoff 
in which to communicate with his Imperial master. 

In less than eight days, instead of the fourteen allowed 
him, the Plenipotentiary of the Czar was instructed to 
negotiate a peace on the minimum proposed. 

No cessation of hostilities has taken place ; no armistice 
will be listened to, and the siege goes on. Enormous pre- 
parations have been made both by the French and English, 
for continuing their operations with increased vigor as 
soon as the weather will permit. Omer Pacha has been 
ordered, with his army of forty thousand men, to proceed 
to Eupatoria, where he has landed, and will be able to 
operate on the rear of the Russians, while the British and 
Erench attack in front, and if kept well supplied both 
with men and means, we may expect something brilliant 
from his well-earned prowess and reputation. 

Whether we are approaching the close of the war, or 
the beginning of it, is a question which no human fore- 
sight can, at the present moment, determine. 



390 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The question is one of deep importance to the world 
generally, for war brings so many evils in its train, is so 
exhausting in blood and treasure, interrupts the commer- 
cial transactions of nations so painfully, and retards civi- 
lization so seriously, that we cannot but hope that the 
year which thus commences with slaughter may close in 
peace. 

A winter campaign under the most favorable circum- 
stances is rife with suffering and death ; but much can be 
done to mitigate these evils by a system of thorough dis- 
cipline on the part of those in command. 

Every arrival, however, from the Crimea, brings tales of 
woe and misery coupled with additional confirmation of 
the gross mismanagement which has characterized the 
conduct of the British army since its first arrival in the 
East. In battle, British officers . and soldiers have proved 
themselves heroes, yet in the organization of the different 
departments, in eyerything which contributes to the com- 
fort and health both of officers and men, as well as in the 
commissariat, they have proved themselves lamentably 
deficient. 

In contrast with the admirable organization of the 
French army under similar circumstances, it would seem 
difficult to account for the comparative comfort in the one 
case, and the miserable lack of it in the other ; but upon a 
careful analysis of the two systems, the cause becomes at 
once apparent. The French army is essentially a demo- 
cratic institution, in which promotion depends entirely 
upon individual merit. Vigilance, activity, and energy 
is the price of position, and with a possibility of attaining 



CONDITION OF THE TEOOPS, 1855. 391 

a higher rank, the common soldier as well as the officer, 
has an incentive for extra exertion, and something to hope 
for in the future. 

But with the British it is quite the reverse. Once in 
the ranks the soldier hopes for no higher position, because 
it is unattainable. Their officers are selected, not on the 
ground of merit, but because by chance born a " Somer- 
set " or in the shadow of a title. By education well fitted 
to shine at court, or amid the butterflies of fashion, prac- 
tical knowledge and business capacity are things of which 
they have never dreamed, and which so savors of the 
plebeian that they are led to believe themselves degraded 
by giving attention to details, or in the exhibition of that 
energy which is the secret of success in every calling. 

While the execution of these minor details renders the 
French comparatively comfortable on the heights of Se- 
bastopol, the British, for lack of them, are undergoing the 
horrors of the campaign of Moscow. 

"With a superabundance of everything on board ship ; 
with cargoes of furs and warm clothing at Balaklava, the 
soldiers on half rations are suffering famine, and in sum- 
mer garments are shivering and dying in the cold blasts 
of a Crimean winter. By the humanity of their allies, 
some have been protected from freezing by donations of 
the well known Algerine caban (heavy cloaks with hoods), 
from the French; and the British army presents the strange 
and humiliating spectacle of appearing in French habili- 
ments and sacrificing its identity. If the present disasters 
in the Crimea shall have the effect to cause a breaking 
down of that Feudal system in England, which recognises 



392 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

one man as entitled to all privileges, and his neighbor to 
none ; which, regardless of capacity, places names rather 
than men in command of armies, and in cabinets : if this 
change shall be effected, then will more good have been 
accomplished than would result from the subjugation of 
Kussia and downfall of Sebastopol. 




NICHOLAS, LATE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

BIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. 

Siege of Sebastopol continues — Sardinia joins the "Western Alliance — 
Battle of Eupatoria — Sudden death of Emperor Nicholas — His love and 
pride for his Army — His last Words — Alexander II. ascends the 
Throne — His Manifesto to his Subjects — A Sketch of him — Recall of 
Prince Menschikoff from command in the Crimea — His abilities and 
failings — His Successors — Gortschakoff 's Military Career. 

The conference at Yienna not having arrived at any 
definite terms of adjustment for Peace, the siege of Sebas- 
topol was continued, although the severity of the weather 
would not admit of active operations from the besiegers 
or the besieged ; the Allies were busied in drawing their 
lines closer to the walls, which provoked occasional sorties 
from the Russians, of small detachments of troops, which 
were quickly repulsed. 

The King of Sardinia notified France and England of 
his decision to join the Allied Powers, and placed at 
their disposal 10,000 troops, with transports and muni- 
tions of war. On the 17th of February, 1855, 25,000 
Russians, with 80 pieces of artillery, under orders from 
Gen. Osten Sacken, commanded by Gen. Korff, attacked 
the town of Eupatoria, on the east side. The combat 
lasted from half-past five o'clock until ten o'clock in the 
morning ; under cover of a heavy fire from their artillery, 
the Russians made two or three attempts to carry the town 
by storm, but they were vigorously repulsed, and after a 
loss of 500 killed and 1300 wounded, retired towards 
Simpheropol. 



394 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

The steamers at anchor in the roadstead contributed 
energetically to the defence of the town, throwing shot 
and shells into the ranks of the enemy. The Turks had 
88 killed and 250 wounded. Selim Pasha, General of 
the Egyptian Division, and Colonel Rustem Bey, were 
killed. Eighteen French were killed or wounded on 
shipboard. 

On the 2d of March, 1855, an event transpired which 
convulsed the public mind throughout Europe and the 
world, causing the reflection that all are in the immediate 
power of that Supreme Being who is King of Kings and 
Emperors, and that he it is who holds the destinies of 
nations in his hands. Emperor Nicholas of Russia, who 
had beeri indisposed for some time from an attack of 
influenza, but had neglected to take proper care, or to 
spare himself from his customary fatiguing duties in the 
inspection of his troops, grew alarmingly ill, and pulmo- 
nary apoplexy supervening, mortal aid was unavailing, 
and at one o'clock on the morning of the 2d he breathed 
his last. His last words were truly significant of the " ruling 
passion strong in death," Ms love and devotedness to his 
army — with whose unwavering support, his towering am- 
bition led him to believe, the world might be conquered : 
— "I thank the glorious loyal Guards who, in 1825, saved 
Russia ; and I also thank the brave army and fleet ; I pray 
God to maintain, however, the courage and spirit by 
which they have distinguished themselves under me. So 
long as this spirit remains upheld, Russia's tranquillity 
is secured both within and without. Then woe to her 
enemies ! I loved them as my own children, and strove 
as much as I could to improve their condition. If I was 




ALEXANDER II., EMPEROR OF ALL THE RUSSTAS. 



ALEXANDER n. ASCENDS THE THRONE, ISM. 3<J5 

not entirely successful in that respect, it was from no 
want of will, but because I was unable to devise anything 
better, or to do more." Nicholas was born on the 7th of 
July, 1796, having succeeded his brother Alexander on 
the 1st Dec, 1825, was sixty years of age at the time 
of his death, having spent one half of his life on the 
throne. 

A few hours after the death of the Czar Nicholas, his 
son, heir, and successor, Alexander II., ascended the 
throne and the officers of the imperial house took the 
oaths of allegiance. The new Emperor in his manifesto to 
his subjects says — as his father devoted himself inces- 
santly for the welfare of his Empire, " so do we also on 
ascending the throne of Russia, and of Poland and Fin- 
land, inseparable from it, take a solemn oath before God 
to regard the welfare of our Empire as our only object. 
May Providence, which has selected us for so high a call- 
ing, be our guide and protector, that we may maintain 
Russia on the highest standard of power and glory, 
and in our person accomplish the incessant wishes and 
views of Peter, of Catharine, of Alexander, and of our 
father. May the zeal of our subjects assist us therein. 
"We invoke and command the oath of allegiance to us, 
and to the heir to the throne, our son Nicholas Alexan- 
drowitsch." The new Sovereign of Russia is thirty-seven 
years of age, his figure tall and commanding, his features 
fine, with a Grecian profile, an expression of kindness, 
a step light and gracefully noble. Previous to his acces- 
sion, he held the posts of Commander-in-Chief of the 
Corps de la Garde, and of the Grenadiers ; presided over 
the Military School, and was Curator-in-Chief of the 



396 EUROPE AND THE ALLIES. 

Military Hospital of Tchesme, and holds the command of 
the Lancers, the Carabiniers of Erivan, &c. 

He was initiated, at an early age, into the affairs of the 
Empire by the Emperor his father ; he was present at all 
the councils ; he was invested with situations which gave 
him frequent opportunities of rendering himself useful to 
the army, and pleasing to the youth of the schools. 
"Whenever the Emperor Nicholas quitted the capital, he 
left the supreme direction of the Government to his son ; 
in short, he had taken the utmost pains to prepare him to 
become his successor. The new Emperor is very popular 
in Russia — he is beloved and esteemed by the people. 
lie will not exercise the great authority of his father, for 
he does not inherit either his hauteur or his inflexibility. 
He will rather please, as the Emperor Alexander I. did, by 
his mildness and his affability ; and between the uncle and 
the nephew there is a very great similarity of character 
in numerous ways. The new Empress is also highly 
spoken of, and her elevated judgment and her conciliat- 
ing manners are much extolled. It is thought she will 
exercise a salutary influence over the Emperor. 

One of the last acts of the late Emperor of Eussia was 
the recalling of Prince Menschikoff from the command 
he has held in the Crimea since the commencement of 
hostilities. He was chosen by the late Emperor as one 
of the principal members of the old Muscovite party in 
the state to proceed on the mission to the Porte, which 
gave the signal of the contest. He performed the mission 
with arrogance — unconciliating, and even uncouth in hia 
manners — unacquainted with the forms of diplomatic in- 
tercourse or the political dangers he called into ]ife— 



PRINCES MENSCHIKOFF AND GORTSCHAKOFF, 1800. 397 

Prince Menschikoff succeeded in nothing but in rousing 
the spirit of the Divan to all the ardor of resistance, and 
in enlisting the sympathy of Europe on the side of his 
victim. In his capacity of Admiral, Head of the Fleet, 
and Minister of Marine, he continued with great energy 
to face the storm he had drawn down upon his country ; 
and it must be acknowledged that he showed great energy 
and inexhaustible resource in the defence of Sebastopol. 
There is no example in history of defences and works of 
to extensive a character thrown up by a besieged garrison 
in presence of a powerful enemy ; and the highest com- 
pliment which can be offered to Prince Menschikoff is the 
simple statement of fact, that on the 26th of September 
the place was almost open, and only defended by the ves- 
sels in the harbor ; but that five months later, and in spite 
of continued attacks, the town was supposed by many 
persons impregnable to any direct assault. 

Prince Gortschakoff, who was in command of the Rus- 
sian forces in the Principalities, was appointed to take 
command in the Crimea, and Gen. Osten Sacken was 
appointed second in command. 

Prince Gortschakoff is one of those who has attained 
his present eminent position by ascending, spoke by spoke, 
the " ladder of fame." 

The first that was known of him as a military man was 
his serving in a subordinate rank in the Artillery of the 
Imperial Guards. This was in the year 1828, he being 
then about thirty years of age. In 1829 he formed one 
of the staff of the Kratsowski Corps, and served with them 
in Silistria and at Shumla — he took part, together with 
Gen. Krassoffsky, in artillery operations connected with 



398 EUKOPE AND THE ALLIES. 

the beleaguerment of Silistria. After a siege of six weeks 
the garrison surrendered as prisoners of war. In 1831 
Gortschakoff was required to take part in the war in 
Poland ; and for his services in the campaign he was 
advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-General. 

At Grochow, the Russians, under the command of 
Count Pahlen, had been compelled to retreat before the 
Poles, when, by the concentration of the artillery force 
under the command of Gortschakoff, the battle was turned 
in favor of the Russians. At Ostrolenka, also, he greatly 
distinguished himself. The Poles, after an obstinate 
resistance, were compelled to abandon the place. In 
September, 1831, the capital, Warsaw, capitulated. In 
1843 he was promoted' to the rank of General of Artil- 
lery. In 1846 he was appointed Military Governor of 
Warsaw. He took an important part in the Hungarian 
war of 1849. As soon as the occupation of the Danubian 
provinces was determined upon, the Prince was appointed 
to the chief command of the Imperial forces. When he 
entered Wallachia, he published a proclamation, to the 
effect that the Czar, his master, had no design of conquest, 
and that the independence of the inhabitants would, in 
every way, be protected. This promise was not fulfilled. 
Shortly after this, he issued the celebrated appeal to the 
fanaticism of the Russians, ending with the words — ■ 
" Mort aux Pagans" (death to the infidels). As has been 
stated, the Prince has gradually attained his present high 
rank. 

He is now Aide-de-Camp General, General of Artillery, 
and Chef d'Etat Major of the active army, and privileged 
to take part in the deliberations of the Councils of the 



THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL, 1855. 399 

Empire. He is also Military G-overnor of Warsaw, and 
the chief member of the Council of Administration of 
the Kingdom of Poland. 

The diplomatic achievements of the Prince are nume- 
rous, but they are more characteristic than great. He is 
said to be more of a bully than a diplomatist, doubles his 
fists too often to wear the " white glove " well — he being 
one of the most petulant and factious of mankind, and at 
the same time one of the most obstinate and overbearing. 



THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL. 

It is nearly a year since we were first startled by the 
announcement that Sebastopol had fallen. But that news 
proved false, and ever since the public ear has been opened 
to catch the announcement of the news of the great feat 
which two of the mightiest nations of the Old World had 
combined their utmost power to accomplish. It has come 
at last ; superior power and skill have carried the day, 
as we have never doubted they would, and Sebastopol 
has fallen. 

The contest on which the eyes of Europe have been 
turned so long is nearly decided — the event on which the 
hopes of so many mighty empires depended is all but de- 
termined. And one more great act of carnage has been 
added to the tremendous, but glorious tragedy, of which 
the whole world, from the most civilized nations down to 
tho most barbarous hordes of the East, has been the anx- 
ious and excited audience. 



400 THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL, 1855. 

At dawn on the morning of the 5th of September, 
1855, the expected bombardment commenced on a scale 
of unprecedented magnitude. The last and decisive can- 
nonade was begun on Wednesday by the French, who 
exploded three fougasses to blow in the counterscarp, and 
to serve as a signal to their men. Instantly from the 
sea to the Dockyard creek there was seen to run a stream 
of fire, and fleecy, curling, rich white smoke, as though 
the earth had suddenly been rent in the throes of an 
earthquake, and was vomiting forth the material of her 
volcanoes. The lines of the French trenches were at 
once covered as though the very clouds of heaven had 
settled down upon them and were whirled about in spiral 
jets, in festoons, in clustering bunches, in columns and 
in sheets, all commingled, involved together by the vehe- 
ment flames beneath. 

After two hours and a half of furious fire, the artillery- 
men suddenly ceased, in order to let their guns cool and 
to rest themselves. The Kussians crept out to repair 
the damages to their works, and shook sandbags full of 
earth from the parquette over the outside of their para- 
pets. 

At 10 o'clock, however, the French reopened a fire, if 
possible, more rapid and tremendous than their first, and 
continued to keep it up with the utmost vigor till 12 
o'clock at noon, by which time the Russians had only a 
few guns in the Flagstaff road and Garden*Batteries in 
a position to reply. From 12 to 5 o'clock P. M., the 
firing was slack ; the French then resumed their can- 
nonade with the same astounding vigor as at dawn and 
at 10 o'clock, and never ceased their volleys of shot and 



THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL, 1855. 401 

shell against the place till 7 1-2, when darkness set in, 
and all the mortars and heavy guns, English as well as 
French, opened with shell against the whole line of 
defences. 

A description of this scene is impossible. There was 
not one instant in which the shells did not whistle through 
the air — not a moment in which the sky was not seamed 
by their fiery curves or illuminated by their explosion. 

THE SECOND DAY'S BOMBARDMENT. 

Sept. 6 — A steady fire was kept up along the front, to 
prevent the Eussians repairing damages. At 5 1-2 
o'clock the whole of the batteries from Quarantine to 
Inkermann opened with a grand crash. The Eussians 
were silent as before. The cannonade was maintained 
as it was the day before. There were three breaks or 
lulls in the tempest ; from 8 1-2 till 10 o'clock, from 12 
till 5, and from 6 1-2 till 7 o'clock the fire was compara- 
tively slack. 

THIRD DAY'S BOMBARDMENT. 

Sept. 7 — The cannonade was resumed at daybreak, the 
Inkermann batteries firing briskly. A counsel of generals 
was held at headquarters. The firing was tremendous 
all day, but clouds of dust which a high wind from the 
north drifted, rendered a view of the place impossible. 

At 12 o'clock on Saturday the 8th, within a few days 
of the anniversary of the landing of the allied forces in 
the Crimea, and 316 days after the opening of the be- 
sieging batteries against Sebastopol, on the 17th of Oc- 
tober, 1854, a final and victorious assault was made. The 
morning was bitterly cold. 



402 THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL, 1855. 



THE ASSAULT. 



Sept. 8 — A biting wind from the north side of Sebas- 
topol blew intolerable clouds of harsh dust. The sun 
was obscured ; the sky was of a leaden , wintry grey. 

Early in the morning a strong force of cavalry, under 
the command of Colonel Hodge, was moved up to the 
front, and formed a chain of sentries in front of Cathcart's 
hill and all along the lines. 

General Pelissier during the night collected about 
30,000 men in and about the Mamelon to form the storm- 
ing columns for MalakofF and Little Kedan, and to pro- 
vide the necessary reserves. The French were reinforced 
by 5,000 Sardinians, who marched up from the Tcher- 
naya the night previous. It was arranged that the 
French were to attack the MalakofF at noon, and as soon 
as their attack began that the English were to assault 
the Eedan. 

A few minutes before 12 o'clock, the French, like a 
swarm of bees, issued forth from their trenches close to 
the doomed MalakofF, swarmed up its face, and were 
through its embrasures in the twinkling of an eye. They 
crossed the ground which separated them from the enemy 
at a few bounds — they drifted as lightly and quickly as 
autumn leaves before the wind, battalion after battalion, 
into the embrasures, and in a minute or two after the 
head of their column issued from the ditch, the tricolor 
was floating over the KornilofF bastion. The musketry 
was very feeble at first — indeed they took the Kussians 
quite by surprise, and very few of the latter were in the 
MalakofF ; but they soon recovered themselves, and from 



THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL, 1855. 403 

12 o'clock till past 7 in the evening, the French had to 
meet and defeat the repeated attempts of the enemy to 
begin the work, and the little Eedan, when weary of the 
fearful slaughter of his men who lay in thousands over 
the exterior of the works, the Muscovite general, des- 
pairing of success, withdrew his exhausted legions, and 
prepared, with admirable skill, to evacuate the place. 

The English attacked the Eedan with two divisions. 
The struggle that took place was desperate and bloody. 
The soldiers, taken at every disadvantage, met the enemy 
with the bayonet, and isolated combats took place, in 
which the brave fellows who stood their ground had to 
defend themselves against three or four adversaries at 
once. In this melee the officers, armed only with their 
swords, had little chance : nor had those who carried 
pistols much opportunity of using them in such a rapid 
contest. They fell like heroes, and many a gallant sol- 
dier with them. The bodies of English and Eussians in- 
side the Eedan, locked in an embrace which death could 
not relax, but had rather cemented all the closer, lay 
next day inside the Eedan as evidences of the terrible 
animosity of the struggle. But the solid weight of the 
advancing mass, urged on and fed each moment from the 
rear, by company after company, and battalion after bat- 
talion, prevailed at last against the isolated and disjoint- 
ed band, who had abandoned the protection of unanimity 
of courage and had lost the advantage of discipline and 
obedience. As though some giant rock had advanced 
into the sea and forced back the waters that had buffeted 
it, so did the Eussian columns press down against the 
spray of soldiery which fretted their edge with fire and 
steel, and contended in vain against their weight. The 



404 THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL. 

struggling band was forced back by the enemy, who 
moved on, crushing friend and foe beneath their solid 
tramp, and, bleeding, panting and exhausted, the Eng- 
lishmen lay in heaps in the ditch beneath the parapet, 
sheltered themselves behind stones and in bomb-craters 
in the slope of the work, or tried to pass back to the ad- 
vanced parallel and sap, and had to run the gauntlet of 
a tremendous fire. Many of them lost their lives, or 
were seriously wounded in the attempt. 

Upon the final establishment of General Bosquet's di- 
vision of the French army in the Malakoff, Prince Grort- 
schakoff instantly proceeded to execute a prearranged 
plan for the destruction and evacuation of the town. 
All that night the harbor was illuminated by the lurid 
glare of burning ships, and from time to time the explo- 
sion of vast magazines rent asunder enormous piles of 
masonry, while an all-devouring conflagration swept like 
the scourge of Heaven over the devastated city. Sebas- 
topol perished, like Moscow, by the hands of her defend- 
ers, while her successful assailants witnessed the awful 
spectacle unscathed. Means of retreat had been secured 
by a long bridge of rafts across the great harbor, and for 
many hours large masses of troops were removed by this 
passage to the northern side of the town ; but at eight 
o'clock in the morning of the 9th, this communication 
was stopped — .the whole of the works and town had been 
evacuated. 

The loss of life was fearful, upwards of 30,000 men 
being killed or wounded. 

Four thousand cannon, fifty thousand balls, and im- 
mense stores of gunpowder were taken possession of by 
the allies. 



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